Captured
by mortal-paralight
Summary: SEQUEL TO BATTERED! For the past few months, Bella has been enjoying her new life but when she starts receiving these messages, it turns her life upside down. What will happen? And will her past come to haunt her? DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BATTERED!
1. Preface

**Alright, so here's the preface to the sequel! Hope you guys like it. The first chapter should be up shortly, anyways I hope it will. It's been really crazy these days. So READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Preface

My life had finally started to turn around. I had a family that loved me, a wonderful bunch of friends that supported me, an extraordinary boyfriend… The list goes on. But now, my life seemed to be in turmoil once more.

He took me from everything I loved: my home, my school, my life in general. I was a captive for his own personal games.

My mind raced into overdrive while looking into this man's eyes. They held desire, something I'd never seen before. They held lust and pleasure, something that made me feel sick to my core. He wanted to hurt me. He wanted me to be his slave. My first instinct was to try and escape but there was nothing I could do. My strength was pathetic and I was plainly just weak. If I tried anything, he would kill me automatically or torture me on the worst possible ways. This man was a monster, a servant for the Devil and apparently enjoyed it. There was no way of escaping.

In truth, I'd never be able to save myself. I had been captured, threatened and fooled… fooled into thinking that my life could be normal for once… fooled into thinking that I was free from hurt and sorrow. My life was no longer worth living; that man had obviously made that happen. I was meant to be a slave and serve this man and nothing more.

I was done, and nothing could change that.

**Alright, so what did you think of the preface? I thought it explained a lot of things about what would happen next. So, if you want to know what happens next, READ THE STORY AND REVIEW! **

**Bellacullenswan17**

2


	2. Unusual beginnings

**Alright guys, here's the first chapter in this sequel! It's a little short but I really wanted to get rid of the Romeo and Juliet production so, here it is. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 1

Unusual beginnings

**Bella's Point of View**

"I can't do this," I answered, sweat pouring down my hands. The love of my life was standing just in front of me wearing a renaissance costume. It was this time of year again. It was the time year when students gather in the auditorium and listened to the Romeo and Juliet production, performed by a few unlucky students. And, unfortunately, I was one of them. Actually, Mrs. Goss, the Drama teacher, had practically forced me to go for the part of Juliet. Now, I was standing behind the curtain, my nerves seemed like an active circuit. My heart was racing a million miles an hour as I looked at the one person that loved me the most.

"You can do this Bella. Everyone's here to see you perform. You wouldn't want to disappoint your fans, now would you?" My boyfriend asked with a crooked smile.

Rolling my eyes at him, I said: "Edward, it's not like anyone's going to want to see me on stage. No one likes me at this school, remember?"

"Bella, that doesn't matter. Remember, Mom and Dad and everyone else is sitting in that auditorium, waiting to see us on stage. You don't want to disappoint _them_, now do you?" I looked away from him in shame. If I didn't do this, the Cullens would be disappointed in me. Edward placed his finger under my chin and turned my head, making me look into him. "It's going to be alright Bella. I'm going to be right there with you during the whole play," He assured me with his crooked grin.

"I'll hold you to that..." I whispered just as Mrs. Goss came backstage in one big hurry.

"Places people, _places_! The show's about to start!" She screamed at all of us and we hurriedly got in our positions onstage. My siblings and siblings' boyfriends were part of the production as well. As for my 'parents'—I do use air quotes because Edward's mother and father adopted me only a few short weeks ago—they were in the front row, watching our performance intently. Edward kissed my lips once and walked towards the stage, getting ready to perform.

In just a few minutes, the play started and my mind returned to the past. I remembered everything that happened to me since the Cullens became a part of my life. The moments the Cullens came to Forks… Edward and Alice trying to be my friends… Charlie almost beating me to death… Carlisle trying to save me… Charlie coming after me once more and Rosalie trying to reason with him… Tanya and her plastic witches insulting me in the worst possible manner… Edward telling me he loved me… The day I sacrificed myself for Alice… Almost dying… The Cullens adopting me…

It was the most amazing few months of my life.

Alice was portraying Lady Capulet, Rosalie was Rosaline—again, the irony is evident—Eric is playing Tybalt, Mike was Paris, Angela was the Nurse, Emmett and Jasper were Romeo's best friends Mercutio and Benvolio—ironic in a way—and so on. Most of my friends were the good characters. Unfortunately, Tanya was Lady Montague and kept glaring at me throughout the play. After a while, it was hard to handle but it was slightly amusing to see her so jealous. I hated the fact that she was so mad at me. I mean, the only thing that happened was that Edward chose me over her. It wasn't my choice. It was Edward's.

I went on stage and started acting nervously. What if the spectators didn't like my acting? Of course it wasn't hard to play Juliet but… I feared for others. The Cullens thought that I was an incredible Juliet but it was hard to believe. Who would ever think that battered little Bella would ever be on stage as the lead actress…

That thought stayed with me during the entire production. Up until the dying scene at the end, I just felt nervous and self-conscious. But… when we performed that scene, my heart clenched selfishly. Seeing Edward die made me want to hurl. I could never picture Edward being hurt or even less, being _killed_. How on earth would I live without him in my life? There's a simple answer to that question: I wouldn't. I would die if he died. Maybe it went both ways. Maybe he felt the same about me.

When the play ended, everyone in the auditorium clapped as the actors bowed to the audience. Edward and I held hands and looked into one another's eyes as the audience cheered for us. As we walked off stage, Edward pulled me into his arms and rested his head on mine caringly. Alice and Rosalie were jumping around frantically, happy about their performances. I couldn't help but laugh. They were such girls.

"You guys were amazing," I replied, trying to get through the screaming and jumping. They stopped jumping and screaming, looked at both of us, and unfortunately ran towards us and gave us bone-breaking hugs. "Guys… can't breathe…" I said as Alice kept on squeezing the life out of me. Man that woman had a lot of strength for being so tiny.

"Sorry. But you guys were fantastic!" Alice exclaimed happily with a large smile. It made me smile as well to see her like this. It has been a while since we'd seen either Rosalie or Alice this happy. Well, ok, we'd seen Alice this happy about four days ago but Rosalie… let's just say it's been a while. "The way you guys talked, moved—"

"Kissed," Rosalie said, finishing Alice's sentence with a big smirk on her face. My cheeks turned bright red at the mention of our kissing scene on the balcony. I have to admit that it was quite impressive and probably made Tanya extremely jealous. Wouldn't be surprised if I got death glares when walking out of the school…

"Yeah, that scene was _hot_!" Emmett said as he joined us with Jasper behind him. The family was now reunited. Angela was walking slowly behind everyone, waiting for our family moment to end. She was extremely nice to me ever since I came back to school with Edward and his family. Angela had one of the kindest hearts I ever saw. She would do anything for her friends. "Eddie got his groove on."

"Well, it's not like we haven't had our fair share of practice…" Edward said while placing a gentle finger under my chin and lifting it to face him. In that same instant, his lips crashed on mine and we were reliving the balcony scene all over again. Everyone watching us—probably with distaste at this moment but I didn't care whatsoever—and the world around us was gone. It was only me and Edward at this point.

"Ew! Get a room, you two!" Emmett answered with a sickening gag noise and looking away. Edward and I separated from the kiss and looked at them all gagging amusingly. All Edward and I could do was laugh at them.

"I don't mean to interrupt but I just wanted to tell you guys that your acting was amazing," Angela said with the kindest smile as she approached me.

"You too Angela. You were incredible as the Nurse," I complimented with a smile of my own. She returned it and walked away once again, leaving us to our conversation. "She's so nice."

"I agree. Well, we might as well go see Mom and Dad. They're going to want to congratulate us nonstop," Alice said before giving me a large hug. After giving us a few hugs and goodbyes, the gang followed Angela's movements and left, leaving the two of us alone. It was just me and Edward now.

"You know, I might just take Emmett up on his offer," Edward cooed as I leant into his chest and closed my eyes, inhaling his scent. God… how did I deserve such a Greek God like Edward Cullen? "I think we were a little off on the balcony. Maybe we could practice it a little more…" Ok, that was an extremely cheesy way to get me to kiss him but it was cute.

He leaned in to kiss me but I pushed him away, making him pout. "Maybe when we get home. I really just want to go home right now," I explained and, surprisingly, Edward nodded.

"Let's go home love," He said and we both walked towards his parents. Esme and Carlisle were waiting for us with open arms. It felt so good to know that they supported me like any family should. They're so much better than Charlie…

"Congratulations, both of you!" Esme cried as she enveloped me into a large hug. She was the mother I had always dreamed of having after my mother died when I was nine. Esme was like a reflection of my first mom: loving, caring, understanding… Hell, she would do anything for anyone in a loving way. But looking at Carlisle made me feel guilty. Here he is, his medical licence removed and it's all because of me, because he wanted to save me from getting killed numerous times. I still felt enormously guilty about those events.

"Thanks Mom." I had started calling Esme my mom ever since they adopted me. It seemed right.

"You were both incredible out there," Carlisle said while giving me a hug as well. He seemed so happy about everything but, deep inside, it must be difficult for him to just stay at home and help Esme around the house. He must really miss his job… "We're both very proud of you."

"Thanks…" I said as we all went back home. When arriving, we all went to our rooms and got changed as quickly as possible. Well, I got changed extremely fast because Edward was waiting for me but that was besides the point. Suddenly, as I was putting on a black tank top and some sweatpants that Alice would definitely disapprove of, my phone started ringing, indicating I had a message. Huh… I wonder who would text me this late at night.

Walking over to my nightstand, I opened my phone to reveal one unread text message from a few hours ago. Who could that be? Opening it, my mouth literally dropped.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**You will do as I say or your family will die.**

What the…?

**Ohhhhh! Who's the mystery caller and what do they want with Bella? Find out in the next chapter! REVIEW PLEASE! THANKS YOU GUYS!**

**Bellacullenswan17**

8


	3. Ignored

**Alright guys, so here's the next chapter. Now I know you're all caught up in exams (frankly so am I) but I'll try to get you your chapters as fast as possible. Sorry for the lack of update if you don't get anything. SO NOW READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 2

Ignored

**Bella's Point of View**

Who was this? The number was unknown to me and the message sent shivers throughout my whole body. They were threatening me through a text message. Suddenly, my hand started to shake as I reread the text over and over again. This must be some horrible prank. And frankly, it was really scaring me. Throwing my phone on my bed, I tried to ignore what it said.

It didn't make any sense. My family would die if I didn't obey some silly text message? People were definitely sick.

Walking out of my room, I went straight to Edward's. He would be able to calm my nerves. But I had to find a good excuse. Um… I was still nervous from the play? Yeah, that could work, if Edward was a moron—which he wasn't. Edward could read me like an open book. He could tell when something was wrong and he would get it out of me. Oh how in the world was I going to hide this from him? I mean, it's not like the text message is going to happen. It's just a big old prank.

When grabbing the handle to Edward's door, I took a deep breath and twisted the knob, seeing Edward on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Man, he was the perfect man. He had the perfect everything: body, hair, eyes… Man, I could get lost in those eyes of his. He looked up at me and sent a crooked smile my way. I immediately felt more relaxed. If I bored myself into those eyes of his, I could forget everything about the text message. It was like drowning in a pool of emerald.

"Hey there love." His velvety voice made my nerves break instantaneously. Walking over to him, he sat up and welcomed me with open arms. Sitting in front of him and leaning into his chest, I wrapped my arms around him and was hit with his scent. He was draining my worries away.

"Hi," I said, leaning into him more as he kissed my hair delicately.

"Are you alright? You seem a little tense." Damn! I didn't expect him to catch on so fast. Loosening my grip on him, he looked me straight in the eyes but before Edward could look deep inside of me, I put my defensive walls up, hoping he wouldn't try to budge me. "Bella, what's the matter?"

"I'm just a little… tense from the play, I guess. It takes a while for me to relax after something like this…" I lied, looking into his eyes and seeing if he would buy it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…" I hated lying to him. It wasn't right.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He asked, placing his forehead on mine, his skin electrifying mine with his touch. I forced a smile on my face, looking up at him with a shy smile. What else could I do? I was already ignoring the prank text message and now I was lying to my boyfriend. How low could one person go? It seemed as though the person who sent me that text wanted nothing but my misery. They were succeeding, unfortunately. "I love you," He whispered before kissing me.

"Love you too…" I tried to make my voice sound loving and strong but it just came out mumbled. My goal was to forget that text but obviously, I failed miserably. Edward wrapped his arms around me tightly and we cuddled into each other for hours on end. Unfortunately, the undying feeling of anxiousness and fright never left me.

That night, I hadn't gotten one minute of sleep.

My dream—no, sorry that's not the right word. It's more like a nightmare—was filled with thoughts of my family dying at my hands. It reminded me a lot of the nightmare I had the first night at the Cullen residence, except Charlie wasn't a part of it. This time, it was a man in a black cloak, his face hidden behind a hood. The Cullens were all drenched in blood, their hearts non-beating. It was the worst nightmare ever.

Sleepily, I got up, got dressed slowly and went to get some breakfast. Esme was the first one to greet me. "Good morning honey." Her happy mood was immediately erased when she saw my extremely tired face. "Did you get any sleep last night Bella?" She asked worriedly, walking over to me and placing her fingers on my bags.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night. Nightmares and all," I explained while sitting down at the counter and grabbing the box of cereal.

"Do you want to talk about them?" Esme asked while I started eating and she prepared some pancakes for everyone.

"Nah, they're just nightmares after all. It's not like they can come true…" _Or can they?_ I thought to myself while eating another spoonful of cereal. My nightmare almost seemed real. The Cullens all dead around me… pools of blood around them… Pushing the thought away, my appetite disappeared completely.

"I'm sure your nights will get better. After all, it's rarely common that someone has the same dream twice." It wouldn't surprise me if my nightmare reoccurred often. Just as Esme was about to speak, Rosalie came rushing down the stairs, tried to grab an apple from the plate but Esme slapped her hand away. "Oh no missy. You can't eat this morning, remember? You have a doctor's appointment in just a few hours," Esme explained.

Rosalie's face lit up with realization. "That's right. What time is it again?" She asked while taking a seat next to me.

"Eight o'clock so you're going to have to get there at least half an hour beforehand," Esme explained while hiding the pancakes from her daughter. It was quite awful that Rosalie wouldn't get to eat before going to school. But at least she was missing some school. But then again, it was early June and the teachers were starting to give more and more tests. It was horrid timing to miss school, especially for Rosalie who's about to graduate.

"I might as well leave now, then. I'll see you guys tonight!" Rosalie said before exiting the house in a rush. I was happy that we had finally gotten along many weeks ago. There were no more walls between us. We could finally be sisters now. Even though the paperwork wouldn't be official for another few more days, Alice, Rosalie and I acted already like sisters.

"You might as well want to get a move on as well, Bella. I doubt you want to be late," Esme said as I drowned the last of my cereal and placed the plate in the sink.

Running to my room, I gathered everything needed for my school day when a beeping sound resonated from my cell phone. Another forgotten text message. Great… who could that be from? Flipping my phone open, I read the message and opened my eyes in shock once more. Oh no… Not again. Was this person going to stop or was this horrible prank going to last any longer? Hopefully, it would end soon enough.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**You shouldn't ignore my warning. Something bad might happen…**

Was this person following me? No matter. This prank would end soon enough. Placing my phone in my pocket, I tried my best to stop my hand from shaking while going towards my truck. These messages were freaking me out. And they shouldn't. It was a stupid prank that someone was playing on me just to scare me. Would those around me figure it out? They wouldn't. It was my problem, not theirs.

We drove to school without a word to each other. I hope Rosalie's appointment was going well. Alice, Edward and I went to English class and it seemed to drag on. But the one thing that passed through my mind was that stupid text message I got this morning. What did it mean 'Something bad might happen'? They couldn't threaten me that way. If they wanted to scare me, then they certainly did that.

My mind didn't even process the fact that the bell had rung and we all went to our lockers. Alice and I started talking about random things when Emmett walked up to us with a worried expression. "Have you guys seen Rosalie? It's nearly ten o'clock. It can't take two hours for an appointment," He asked as Edward and Jasper joined us.

"I'm sure she's just fine," I said as Edward enticed his arm around my waist and looked at Emmett confusingly.

"What's going on?" Edward asked.

"Rosalie's not back from her appointment and Emmett's already missing his girl," Alice said and we laughed. Although the situation wasn't funny, Emmett's face was priceless.

"Guys, it's not funny," Emmett answered sadly, his face slightly amused. But you could tell that he was worried about Rosalie. She was never one to be late.

"Emmett, she might be eating at the moment. Remember? She couldn't eat before her appointment," I explained and he seemed to comprehend what I was saying. Hopefully, it was true. Suddenly, my stomach started to turn in knots. What if the text message would come true? What if… Rosalie would get hurt? No, that couldn't happen. They didn't know my family.

Suddenly, a beep sound was heard from the speakers above and the secretary was heard from the intercom. "_Would Isabella Swan, Alice Cullen, Edward Cullen, Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarthy please come to the secretary's office immediately? Thank you,_" The secretary said before the intercom closed and we were all staring at one another.

"I wonder what they could want…" Alice asked as we walked towards the secretary's office in silence. When arriving, we saw Esme with a tear-stained face. Oh no… This wasn't good. "Mom, what's wrong?" Alice asked while walking over to her mother, enveloping her in a tight embrace.

"Everyone, Rosalie… she…" Esme started but couldn't finish. She started sobbing once more into her daughter's shoulder.

"She what?" Emmett asked worriedly, his body stiffening with each passing second. Even my body started to shake with fear. This couldn't happen…

"Rosalie was in a car accident." The breath was knocked out of me. How could she get in a car accident? I didn't blame her one bit. Frankly, I blamed myself. In some part of my mind, this was my entire fault. If it weren't for that stupid text message, none of this would have happened! But… was this all because of my fear?

"What?" Emmett asked dumbfounded.

"She's at the hospital right now. I came to pick you all up," Esme explained and everyone nodded, following her hastily out of the school and towards the hospital. During the entire ride, I felt jittery. This couldn't happen. Was this real? Maybe it was just a fluke. Maybe Rosalie just got in an accident randomly. It wasn't because I ignored a text message. I refused to believe that was the reason. Or maybe it was…

**Mystery Guy's Point of View**

One down, two to go…

**Bella's Point of View**

Esme drove fast; putting her four lights on, indicating this was an emergency. I'd never seen her drive this quickly before but then again, this was her oldest daughter we were talking about. When we arrived at the hospital, no one dared to talk to one another. We were all just too shocked to believe that Rosalie would get in an accident. What if she was badly hurt? What if she was…? No! I won't believe that!

"Nurse, could you tell us what room Rosalie Cullen is in?" Esme asked the closest nurse. She nodded and guided us to room 302. This wasn't happening. It just couldn't. When arriving in front of the hospital room, we all stood there, frozen in front of it. Well, all except for Esme. She burst through the room and rushed to Rosalie's side.

Looking at all of us, everyone walked into the room slowly but me. I just stood there frozen, unable to go inside. But I had to. She was, after all, my sister and best friend. Walking inside, I almost fell back in shock. Rosalie was awake and in a bad shape. There were many cuts on her face and her left arm was in a sling, either broken or sprained. She looked extremely tired. When I walked through the door, Rose turned her head towards me and smiled. But I couldn't stay here anymore, knowing that this was probably my fault. A single tear fell down my face as I exited the room. But also, my phone buzzed, indicating that I had a text message. God… Opening my phone, my eyes once again opened wide at what it said.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**I warned you.**

What did this person want from me? Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my hand and showed that I had an incoming call from an unknown number. By the third ring, my shaking hand pressed the call button and a manly voice rang in my ear.

"_I told you not to ignore my messages. Now, you'll suffer the consequence._"

**Ohh! Who's the mystery man? And what does he want with Bella? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Bellacullenswan17**

11


	4. The call

**Sorry guys but this isn't actually an update. It's just to give you guys a hint of what's to come since I'm literally cut on time. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 3

The call

**Bella's Point of View**

"What do you want with me?" I asked while walking out of the hospital quickly.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, my voice cracking with each passing word. What could he possible want from me? Money? My life? "What did you do to Rosalie?"

"_As you can see, your friend has only had an _accident_, nothing severe. That was only a little warning. Next time you ignore my demands, I _will_ kill one of your family members painfully and slowly. Do you understand?_" The man on the other line asked. His voice was very rough and menacing. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. "_Answer me._"

I flinched at his tone, even though he wasn't here in front of me. Gulping, I rasped out a simple: "Yes." There was nothing that I could do. Looking around, I tried to find out where he was. There had to be someone who was talking on the phone and looking at me at the same time.

"_Don't try to find me because you won't be able to locate me. But I can see you perfectly, my dear Bella…_" He cooed, making me shiver uncontrollably. "_Now, on to business._"

"What do you want?" I practically screamed into the phone, my fear gaining the best of me.

"_Now, now. No need to shout, unless you want your friend to get hurt even worse. And I doubt you want that, right?_"

"Leave Rosalie out of this!" I shouted, getting the attention of a few passing patients. Walking away from them, I walked into the forest and waited for the man to stop laughing.

"_It's not your friends or your family that I want, my dear Bella. It's you,_" He emphasised with the coldest voice. "_But understand that if you don't comply to my orders, your family _will _die by my hands. Now you don't want that, do you?_"

"Look, I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt them alright?" I pleaded, my voice starting to get thick with tears that would soon fall.

"_That's what I like to hear. Now, are we going to have anymore problems from now on? Answer me,_" He asked, his voice piercing through my heart. It was either that I follow his… orders or to let my family suffer because of me, once again. There wasn't any other choice. Gulping, I mentioned a quick: "Yes," and he continued speaking. "_Good, then we won't have any problems. Now, what I want you to do is go back inside and tell your family an excuse as to why you were away. Do you understand?_"

"Yes," I practically whispered.

"_Good. Now don't do anything stupid. I'll be listening Isabella,_" He answered before the line went dead, leaving me with an uncontrollably loud beating heart, tears in my eyes and an unnatural breathing.

Slumping against the tree behind me, I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of the situation. First, a man wanted me for something. Second, he was making me do his dirty work. Three, the life of my family was on the line if I didn't do as he said and trust me, they wouldn't get hurt on my behalf. Four, I had to do as he said.

Whipping the tears away, I started walking back towards the hospital entrance and hoped that the others would buy my horrible lies.

**Rosalie's Point of View**

"Oh honey, we're so glad you're alright!" Mom kept repeating over and over as she gave me a large embrace. The whole family surrounded my small hospital bed as the doctor came in—I still don't like the idea that it's not my father looking over me but we all have to live with that—and started checking my vitals. Bella had left the room right after seeing me. That frankly worried me. What had happened to her?

"Where's Bella?" I asked to everyone.

And, of course, Alice was the first to respond. "Do you want someone to go and get her?" She asked worriedly. Bella was like a sister to both of us and her actions worried us a lot. Whatever was going on with her, we could figure it out as a family.

"No need to send a search party. I'm right here." Bella's voice rang through the room as she entered it and closed the door silently behind her. A smile was brought to my face when she entered but was immediately removed when seeing her face. It looked like she had been crying for a while. Her eyes were still slightly puffy red and her mood seemed to reflect sadness and guilt. Was she... blaming herself for my accident? She better not!

"Where were you?" Alice asked softly but curiously. I kind of wanted to know as well where she had been.

"Um... sorry... I went outside and called Angela... you know, asking her if she could take notes for us in class..." Bella said. Her answer didn't seem normal. It was almost as if she was hesitating. What was up with Bella? Since she arrived at the hospital, Bella seemed out of it and on edge. I wonder what was eating at her... "How are you feeling?" She asked while approaching the bed. Edward placed his arm around her waist but she seemed indifferent. That wasn't like her. Bella usually leaned into his embrace just like I did with Emmett. Something's up... I'd have to ask her later, well when I'm out of this hospital, that is.

"Well, she has a few bruises and scratches here and there and the obvious broken arm but otherwise, she should be fine," The doctor responded before exiting the room with a goodbye gesture to Dad and walked out of the room soon after.

"I could have told you guys that..." I mumbled while resting against the pillows Mom had fluffed for me.

A chuckle escaped my brother's mouth. "Even after an accident, she's still as stubborn as ever," He said before the entire room exploded in laughter, all except for me and Bella. She didn't show any signs of happiness, only guilt and... fear?

"Are you alright Bella?" I asked worriedly. She looked up to see me and suddenly, it seemed like a protective wall formed in front of her face. Her emotions were unreadable. What was she trying to hide?

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just a little jumpy, that's all." Edward tightened his hold on Bella and she simply placed her hand on his arm with a slight smile. But it wasn't her regular smile. As a friend, I could tell when Bella was upset or afraid or anything really. Alice could do the same. We'd spent enough time with her to know how she felt to the simplest things. "You kind of scared me."

"Bella, I'm fine. I'm still in one piece, just a little broken up that's all," I said, showing her my broken arm. Unfortunately, Bella winced at the statement. "It was just an accident. Nothing major."

"But it could have been worse. You could have been killed," Bella said sadly as her eyes glistened with tears. Alice was beside her in an instant. Maybe Bella just felt awful about this whole thing because it brought her memories of the past, of Charlie, her horrible abusive father. Even thinking of the guy brought fury to my veins. It had been extremely hard to see Bella lifeless as her father loomed over her, beating the life out of her. The thought still haunted all of us, even more for Bella. Her father might be in prison now but she still has nightmares at night. We all hear it. "Rose, imagine if you _did_ die in that accident," Bella said, making me snap out of my horrible reverie. She looked so fragile right now, as if one wrong move would break her to pieces. What was she so upset about?

"Bella! I'm alright. That's all that matters, alright?" She looked away but managed to nod in agreement.

"By the way, Rosalie, what happened out there?" Dad asked worriedly, now grabbing everyone's attention. Looking back at what happened was a little fuzzy.

"I... I don't exactly remember everything but... I remember leaving the doctor's office and coming back to school when a car just drove out of the forest, knocking into the right side of the car. It sent us both flying but I didn't fall unconscious. The car just sped away. I... I didn't get a chance to look at the plate number. It just... happened so fast," I explained and everyone seemed either sad or relieved that I wasn't that badly injured. Bella flinched at my explanation and curled into Edward even more. Why was she acting so strange? Maybe I should just let it go for now... even though I don't want to. "Sorry about totalling the car, Mom and Dad. I'll pay for it," I answered, looking at both of my parents.

"The only thing that matters is that you're alright, Rosalie. We'll pay the insurance and everything will work out," Mom said as she placed her hand on my chin. "But promise me you won't do something like this again. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry Mom," I said while looking at the rest of the family. Everyone smiled at me and stayed here for a few minutes before leaving to go back to school. Mom and Dad left about half an hour after the others and I was left alone with my thoughts. Sure, this accident might have affected my system and scarred me for a long time but I was still alive. "Thank god..." I whispered to myself while lying against the pillows once more. Even though the whole accident was behind me, Bella's reaction still worried me. She seemed so distraught when coming back in the room that it bothered me.

Exhaustion crept up on me and my eyes closed involuntarily. Maybe I would worry about the subject tomorrow. Now, I had to focus on resting.

**Bella's Point of View**

Rosalie might not have liked me in the beginning but she wasn't stupid. She knew something was up. But I could never tell her. I couldn't tell anyone about or else they would die, all because of me. During school hours, I tried to act as if nothing had happened outside of the hospital. Everyone was still a little upset about Rosalie's accident. Unfortunately, I know what happened to her, who came out of the woods and slammed into her. It was the mystery man. When the bell rang and we all walked to our separate classes, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Great...

Flipping it open, I started reading the text message.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Good job on keeping this a secret. Your first part is done. Now, how about we play with your little sister Alice? After school, you will receive a message from me. Answer it or I will dispose of your other sister for you. **

God… He wanted me to do something to Alice. But what?

**Alright so I've been extremely busy lately (just arrived in Belgium and my time is extremely reduced) but I've been asked to give a little sneak peak of the next chapter. To be honest with all of you, I'm having a little trouble with my writer's block right now. So, as asked by ****Lexi-owns-the-world, here's a little sneak peek! (please don't kill me for my lack of time! I'm really trying!)**

The phone in my hand buzzed with rigorous force, as if it knew who was texting me. I was afraid to look at it. Who knows what horror the mystery man wanted me to do this time. He still didn't tell me what he wanted me to do to Alice and that scared me the most.

But it was time to face the music. I couldn't hide anymore. Besides, everyone would hate me in the long run for what was about to happen.

Flipping the phone open, the text message hurt me like an avalanche.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Well, my little Bella, it seems as though we're going to have a little fun together. But first, I want you to do something for me. We'll put your sister aside for a moment and try something… different. You're going to…**

**So there is it. Don't kill me yet! I'll try to get the next chapter up. But I'm going to get rid of my writer's block by adding a few chapters to my other stories. Usually that helps me a lot and it gives you guys something to read. **

**Bellacullenswan17**

10


	5. The first task

**Alright everyone, so there's a lot of really bad stuff that's happening so far in my life and it's driving me almost to the point of insanity. First, I had a funeral yesterday for my grandpa and now, I'm in the middle of moving to a different country so I haven't really had time to write all that much. Hopefully, this chapter will be good for you guys. If not, I'm terribly sorry. So READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 4

The first task

**Bella's Point of View**

I sat in my room, my forearms just lying against my knees as my hands wound against my cell phone in fright and desperation. I couldn't pay attention during school. All of my classes went by hazily and slowly. It seemed as though every second was a minute long. And my mind was elsewhere. This... mystery man wanted something from me, that's for sure and he was going to use me to get to Alice? But why her? What did Alice ever do that was this bad?

I'd replied to the text message not long after he'd sent it at lunch and tried to keep my calm until I got home. It scared the hell out of me to even think of hurting someone in my family but... if I didn't, they'd get killed. And I couldn't handle that. All during my classes, my mind kept going over the possibilities that this could be one of Charlie's plans. But, then again, the man was in jail and couldn't hurt me... right? Maybe he had someone on the outside helping him. It wouldn't be surprising.

He was the chief of police after all.

Alice and Edward were trying to get me to fess up about my worries. They'd known how worried I was when we left the hospital but now, this was much worse. Someone was stalking me and threatening me. Who wouldn't be worried about that?

The phone in my hand buzzed with rigorous force, as if it knew who was texting me. I was afraid to look at it. Who knows what horror the mystery man wanted me to do this time. He still didn't tell me what he wanted me to do to Alice and that scared me the most. But it was time to face the music. I couldn't hide anymore. Besides, everyone would hate me in the long run for what was about to happen. Flipping the phone open, the text message hurt me like an avalanche.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Well, my little Bella, it seems as though we're going to have a little fun together. You'll be happy to know that I changed my mind.**

A sigh of relief escaped my lips when reading. At least Alice wasn't going to be harmed at the moment. But… it was only a matter of time before she was.

**We'll put your sister aside for a moment and try something different. You're going to grab all of your technology for music and throw it in the garbage. That means your fancy laptop, piano, guitar, EVERYTHING. Understand? **

My hand shook violently. The good thing was that he wasn't aiming for Alice right now but the bad news is that I was the second to suffer—I do say second because technically, Rosalie was the first, with her accident and all. The last line made shivers run down my spine but that wasn't the worst part. He was targeting the one thing I loved the most—besides Edward—and wanted to make me suffer greatly. But I knew that it had to be done, to save my family.

It was a surprise that I could send a text message to an unknown caller but it happened. I replied shakily minutes after receiving it.

**From: Bella**

**To: Unknown**

**I understand.**

Unfortunately, he didn't let me leave the room in piece.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Good. I'll be watching.**

A chill ran down my spine once again. He was watching my every move. Running to the garage so he wouldn't act out again, there was no one in the living room to ask me what was wrong. Good, because at the moment, I didn't feel like answering to anyone. This would break my heart. Music was one of my passions and now, it was all going to be thrown away. Then again, that was a small price to pay for my family's safety. Grabbing a few cardboard boxes, I ran back to my room, a few tears falling down my face as I packed my music equipment. Every instrument and every sheet of music I'd used was placed in the box slowly and sadly.

Every single piece that was placed in this box tore at my heart. Charlie hadn't let me play any sort of music when I lived with him but now, coming to this house, put my heart back together. Now, it was falling apart at the seems. What else could possibly go wrong at this point in my life? This mystery man was literally ripping me apart from the inside out, killing what I love most for god knows what reason. Couldn't everyone just leave me alone?

When grabbing a sheet of paper, I stopped and looked at it. This was the last song I had written before all of this happened. It was supposed to be for Edward, representing how much he meant to me. Now, he would never get to hear it. It would be thrown away, just like the rest of my dreams. Without looking at the sheet anymore, I continued to throw away my life's dream.

Grabbing the large and heavy box, I composed myself knowing that the man was still watching me and walked out of my room. Unfortunately, it had gotten quite late and Esme was coming home shortly. Making it quick, I practically ran to the garage and saw Esme's car pull in front of the garage. Great... Esme would question me for sure when she saw this. Better make it even quicker now.

Just like I predicted, Esme got out of the car and saw me walking towards the garbage bin. Every step I took towards that bin made my heart clench in horrible pain. Esme looked at me confused then realized my intentions. "Bella, what are you _doing_?" She asked while running up to me. I had already placed the box inside the garbage, destroying my dream. She looked in the box and her eyes widened. "Why are you throwing all of your things away?"

"I just... lost interest in it, I guess," I replied sadly, looking Esme straight in the eyes. She didn't seem to buy it at first.

"But... this is your dream. Why would you stop? You're so great at it," She asked, looking more devastated than ever. It almost made me want to cry but the tears couldn't fall. Who knows that man would do if I messed up?

"I'll find something else to do. There are always other options," I said before walking back in the house and locking myself in my room, not coming out for anything. Luckily, Edward was out with Carlisle, doing some groceries and Alice was at the hospital, visiting Rosalie. No one was in the house besides Esme and I. Good thing too. Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I closed my eyes. It had to be _him_ again, snickering about my horrible performance.

It read:

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Well done Bella. I didn't think you could do it. You'll receive a message tomorrow, explaining your next assignment. And this one will include your little sister.**

And he just left it at that, making a few tears fall from my face. He would ruin me and laugh at his beautiful work. Esme tried to get me to open my door but I would just lie on my bed, staring at the glass door in my room that led outside. My life was falling apart again and this time, it seemed as if I was alone.

**Alice's Point of View**

"What's up with Bella? She seems really distant ever since the accident, and it didn't even happen to her," Rosalie said as I paced around the room, looking for answers.

It was true that Bella was distant ever since the night of the play. And it had gotten worse when she heard that Rose was in the accident. What had gotten into her? "I don't know Rosie. She _has_ been acting strange for some reason," I answered, stopping my pacing when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Taking it out, I looked at the caller ID and said to Rosalie: "It's Mom," before pressing the 'talk' button. "Hey Mom, what's up?"

"_I need your help,_" Mom said, her voice sounding close to tears. What was the matter with her?

"Hold on Mom. I'll put you on speaker," I said before sitting down close to Rosalie and putting the phone on speaker. "Alright Mom, what's the problem?

"_Bella just threw her music equipment in the trash and won't come out of her room,_" Mom said, making my eyes widen. That's really unlike her.

"Why in the hell would she do that?" Rosalie exclaimed surprised. She didn't like the idea that Bella threw away all of her music stuff in the trash. And frankly, it is a little strange. Bella worked so hard in making beautiful songs and now, she was throwing all of it away. But for what reason?

"Did she say why?" I asked when Mom didn't answer back.

"_She said that she lost interest in it. And then she locked herself in her room. Bella won't even say anything. Do you know why she's acting like this?_" Rosalie and I looked at each other, trying to find the answer in each other's eyes but frankly, we had no clue. Bella'd been acting strange for a few hours now and it was just getting worse. First, she blames herself for Rose's accident and then she throws her music stuff away. "_She put everything in a box and put it in the garbage. There's her computer, piano, music sheets, everything._"

"Don't throw it away. Keep it in case Bella ever wants to continue," I said.

"_I put it all in a corner in the garage._"

"Good. At least that'll buy us some time."

"Have you tried calling Edward?" Rosalie asked worriedly. This was no time for her to be stressing out or worrying. She had to heal properly and this situation wasn't helping.

"_I tried calling him but he wouldn't pick up. Maybe Edward's driving but I'll talk to him when he gets home,_" Mom replied sadly. "_She looked so lifeless. There was so much hurt in her eyes. There must be a reason why she's acting this way. Will you talk to her when you get home Alice?_"

"Of course! If Edward doesn't get to the bottom of this, I will. If she won't admit to anything, I'll threaten her with a shopping spree," I answered honestly. Bella hated shopping but would do it for me. It was the perfect alibi.

"Ali, I don't know if that's going to work," Rosalie said honestly, speaking softly to me.

"Well, I can always try. We need to figure out what's going on in Bella's head sooner than later. We're her sisters. She'll tell us what's going on," I replied, not sure of my answer. Honestly, I _hoped _that Bella would tell us the truth. It was a fifty/fifty chance that Bella would tell us anything but, it was worth a shot. We'll get to the bottom of this.

**Alright, so what did you think? Was it good? Could have been better? So horrible you stopped reading after the first line? Well, tell me in REVIEWS!**

**Bellacullenswan17**

9


	6. Confrontation

**Alright people, here's a chapter for you all. Somehow, when I was writing my other chapters, I got an incredible idea for this one and, well, here you go. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 5

Confrontation

**Bella's Point of View**

I hadn't gotten any sleep that night. There were two reasons why I didn't sleep well that night. First, there was the overactive nightmare that haunted me.

_I was walking down the stairs inside the Cullen house, technically my house now. There were no signs of life inside. The only light illuminating this house were the small candles in the corner of the rooms. "Hello?" I asked, hoping to get an answer. But none came. Typical. This even looked like a horror movie: no lights, no life in the slightest, everything looked horrible. Walking into the kitchen, there was nothing and no one. This wasn't helping me. "Anyone here?" I asked once again but no answer came. "Hello?" I asked, an echo forming and unfortunately, one by one, the candles burned out. "Ok… creepy," I whispered to myself as complete darkness surrounded me. What was going on anyways? It was hard to look around. _

_Suddenly, a light opened up right above me, just like a spotlight during a show. Looking up, there was just the one light illuminating a black stage. Where was I? Suddenly, the light expanded in front of me and all the members of the Cullens were here: Esme, Carlisle, Edward, Alice, Rosalie… even Jasper and Emmett. They were all there. And they were looking at me with horror and disgust. _

"_How could you Bella?" Edward asked, his expression hurt and pain filling his eyes. _

"_What do you mean? Edward, what's going on?" I asked, panic rising in me. _

"_We did nothing, Bella. Why did you do this to us?" Esme asked, hurt filling her voice and making my heart clench. They knew… _

"_Mom, I—"_

"_Don't call me Mom. After what you've done… There's no way to forgive this, forgive _you_," Esme said, her eyes pained and conflicted. Everything that the mystery man made me do, it affected the ones I loved. _

"_We can't trust you anymore," Alice whispered, tears leaking down her face. The light illuminated those tears and made fresh ones fall down my cheeks. Jasper stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. His gaze made me want to coil back in fear. I'd never seen him like this, so mad at one person. And this person was me… _

"_You're a monster, going after what we care most. We trusted you with our lives and you threw it away. We trusted you," Rosalie sneered, wrapping her arms around Emmett. His usual happy-go-lucky attitude was replaced with anger and hurt. I'd made that. _

"_Guys, I—" I tried to say but my voice was cut off when a sharp pain erupted in my stomach. Looking down, a knife penetrated my stomach, making blood flow strongly and quickly. A black figure was standing in front of me, his face shrouded by a hood. But he was male, his features indicated that much. And one look at him, one look at the smile on his face told me that it was my mystery man. His hand, covered with a black glove, was removed from the hilt of the knife but the pain of the wound made me fall to my knees, looking at the family I thought once loved and cared for me. The mystery man walked over to my family and stood right behind Edward, my love. "Don't touch him!" I tried to say but the pain was immense. It made me fall to the side and my vision clouded. But he didn't listen. The mystery man placed a hand on my boyfriend's shoulder and stabbed him in the back. Edward took the pain and died instantly. "NO!" I screamed, hoping that my scream of pain would stop the massacre. _

_The mystery man killed every single one of my family, making my fears come true. My pain was immense and sapping my strength, enabling me to help save my family. They all died without any help. The mystery man walked up to me, the bloody knife still in hand as my eyes started to droop. No, I had to stay awake. I had to somehow stop this from happening. He dropped down to one knee and placed his hand on the knife. _

_A gasp of pain escaped my lips as his face came closer to me. "Never underestimate what I can do," He whispered as I started to lose consciousness. The mystery man won… He got a hold of my family and made my greatest fears come true. They all turned against me because of my actions and they hated me as they died. Their looks of pain and suffering would be encases in my mind forever. _

_I was helpless._

"_Bella, you're alright. Wake up!" Alice's voice came through my mind as the mystery man took the wound out of my stomach, weakening me even more. My body slumped against the stage and the light started to fade along with the mystery man._

"_Alice… I'm sorry…" I whispered as the darkness surrounded me. My vision was very clouded and everything was very blurry. The mystery man walked away from me and left me on the floor completely vulnerable and dying. _

"_Bella!" I heard Alice's voice call to me as I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me. _

Suddenly, something pulled me back to the world of the living and I woke up gasping for breath, clutching my stomach. But there was no pain where the blood and wound should be. "Bella, you're alright. It was just a nightmare." Alice's voice rang in my head as I looked down at my stomach. There wasn't a bloodstain on me. No knife wound, no nothing. A sigh escaped my lips as I looked at both of my sisters.

It was nice to see her worried, not angry or… dying.

"Sorry Alice…" I said, running my hand through my sweaty hair, trying to shake off the horrible nightmare. She was rubbing my arm, trying to soothe me as much as possible. "You shouldn't have gotten out of bed just because of… some stupid nightmare," I answered, trying to look away from Alice. The thought of my sisters never wanting anything to do with me anymore scared me. Even though Rosalie wasn't here right now, the thought never left me. It was the scariest thing ever, to think that they could easily turn against me. But, they had every right to. I mean, they are the ones at risk here, not me.

"_We trusted you,_" Rosalie had said in my nightmare, still scaring me half to death.

"We heard you scream. Bella, you scared us." _You should be scared of me, of what I'm about to do,_ I thought sadly whilst looking down on my lap, trying not to look at her worried gaze. "What was your dream about?"

"What time is it anyways?" I asked, looking over at the clock on my nightstand. It read one fifty-two in the morning. God… why in the world was she up? "I'm sorry to wake you up…"

"Bella, answer the question," Alice persisted.

Sighing, I said: "Alice, I'm fine… Nothing to worry about…" But unfortunately, she didn't buy it. "Really, there's nothing to worry about."

"Likely story…" Alice muttered under her breath. Luckily, she was close enough for me to hear it. Glaring at her, she looked at me as defensively as possible. "What? It's true."

"Alice, there's nothing to worry about. You should probably go back to bed. We've got school in the morning," I answered, getting out of bed and walking over to the window. The night looked so peaceful, so serene. Why did I have to be filled with so much… evil in me? Sighing, I pressed my forehead against the window, trying to calm myself.

"Bella, you're acting strangely. Please talk to me. Maybe I can help," Alice said, walking up to me. She kept her distance from me unfortunately. When I didn't say anything, she continued in a worried and almost sobbing tone. "Bella, you're really scaring me. Mom told me that you threw your music stuff in the _trash_. Why in the world would you do that?"

"Like I told Esme, my heart wasn't in it."

"That's crap and you know it!" Turning around to face Alice, I noticed that she was crying. But it was the first time that I'd heard Alice swear since we had met each other. "Bella, you love playing and writing songs. Why in the world would you give that up? It just… doesn't make sense," Alice asked, walking up to me and looking me straight in the eyes. Right now, at this very moment, it showed that Alice was the youngest out of them all. Alice might look brave at school because she was a year younger than anyone but on the inside, she's young and innocent. And it broke my heart to see her this way.

"Alice, I…" There were no words that could describe how I felt at the moment. And there was no way that she could know of the mystery man or else… they would all die. Because of me. "I can't explain this…"

"Why won't you talk to us Bella? We're your family. You know that you can tell us anything," Alice said, giving me a large hug and keeping her arms wrapped around me. It felt nice to have her arms wrapped around me, soothing me. But nothing could soothe my confliction at the moment. "Please talk to us…"

"How about we talk tomorrow morning? When we're not so tired?" I asked, hoping to let this go for the night. Knowing that this mystery man could be out there at the moment scared me to my very core. Nothing could be more dangerous at the moment than to have Alice try and figure out what was the matter with me. She looked at me intently, the tears still running down her face as I whipped her tears away. "Alice, there's nothing to worry about. I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me."

"You're my sister. It's natural that I worry about you. Even Rosalie's stressing over this," Alice explained, making me hate myself even more. Rosalie, the girl who just got into an accident, was stressing over me, when she shouldn't in the least. "She asked me to get to the bottom of this and I'm trying to but you're not making it easy for me. What are you hiding?" She pestered.

A long sigh escaped my lips as I looked at my adoptive sister. "Alright, so a lot of stuff is going on with me but I'll figure it out on my own," I answered but Alice shook her head at me.

"But you don't _have_ to do this on your own! We can help you," Alice retorted.

"It builds up character to figure things out on your own."

"But you've got enough character to fill three people. You don't need anymore character."

A chuckle escaped my throat as I looked at her. "Yeah, you've got that right…" I said, a small smile forming.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Alice asked, eyeing me carefully. When I didn't answer once more, she looked down and seemed saddened. "Yeah, I didn't think so…"

"Look, I'll tell you when the time is right." _Which will probably be never… unless you decide to kick me out, which would be very soon…_ I thought sadly while she nodded in agreement. "Now, let's go back to bed. We need to be awake for classes tomorrow."

"Alright, goodnight Bella," Alice said while leaving my room with a slight smile on her face. It didn't seem fake, in my opinion. Maybe I was just reading her expression wrong. Has she gotten the right answer?

"Night Alice…" I whispered as she exited the room. Sighing, I sat on my bed and placed my head in my hands, wanting to cry so badly. They trust me… and I'm throwing all of it away because of some stupid mystery man who's threatening me.

They'll hate me for the rest of my life…

**So, what did you think****? Hate it? Love it? Want to rip it apart and burn it to pieces? Tell me in REVIEWS!**

9


	7. The second task

**Alright so I've had a REALLY hard time finishing this chapter. It was really hard to write Alice's part in this and there were many ways that I could have done this chapter but let's see what you think… Sorry for the way but READ AND REVIEW please! And please, I'd like to have more reviews than the last chapter. I was a little disappointed at the small amount of reviews I got last time… Please don't disappoint me.**

**Disclaimeer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 6

The second task

**Bella's Point of View**

Waking up the next morning, my eyes were drooping constantly. Sleep deprivation was one thing that I could never get used to. Walking to the kitchen, Alice eyed me curiously, hoping that we'd talk about last night. But… what could I tell her? If anyone knew, they would die… and that was something that could never happen.

"Good morning honey," Esme said cheerfully as she placed on the table a plate of eggs and bacon. Looking up at her, my mind replayed the nightmare that had haunted me last night. "_Don't call me Mom. After what you've done… There's no way to forgive this, forgive _you." Those words haunted me and made me nod before taking a few bites of my breakfast. I wasn't even hungry, not after everything that's going on. "Are you alright sweetie? You look rather pale this morning," Esme asked worriedly, taking a seat next to me at the kitchen table.

"I'm fine. Just didn't sleep last night," I said emotionlessly.

"You didn't sleep after waking up last night?" Alice asked, looking at the bags under my eyes.

Shaking my head, she sighed and Esme placed a hand on mine comfortingly. "Would you like to talk about it?" She asked worriedly.

Shaking my head once again, I tried to fake the best smile possible but to no avail. "They're just nightmares. It'll go away soon enough…" _I hope so... _I thought while continuing to eat to please Esme. They didn't pester the subject anymore. Maybe I had convinced them that it was nothing more than a nightmare… but it wasn't just that. It was my future; that they would turn on me and never want anything to do with me.

After eating breakfast, I placed my dishes in the sink and walked away from them, knowing that their piercing gazes were stabbing my back. Oh, how I wanted to tell them what was really going on. But that could never happen. They would just have to hate me and disown me in the end…

When getting dressed, my phone buzzed on my nightstand, indicating someone had sent me a text message. And I knew exactly who it was. The mystery man. Sighing, I grabbed my phone and opened it to read the text. Or should I say texts. There were three that were attached to it, giving me the instructions to the hard task at hand.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Very well done. I didn't think you could keep this a secret for so long. But you're going to have to, unless you want your family to die. Now, we're going to have a little fun with your little 'sister'. Today during lunch, you'll slip into the principal's office and destroy everything without making a sound. Then, when you've done that, you'll steal the priceless engraved locket that his daughter gave him on his desk and place it in Alice's purse. Place her student card in the damage and your job will be done. The spare key to the principal's office is in your locker. Now get to work and don't mess up. We wouldn't want anything to happen, now would we?**

A chill ran down my spine. How sick could this person be? Framing Alice for something she would never do in a million years was absolutely horrid. Knowing her, she'd yell at me for an eternity when she'd find out. A single tear ran down my face before I composed myself and heard Alice scream at me. "Come on Bella! We're going to be late!"

"Yeah, I'll be right there!" I screamed back, hoping that she'd buy it. Luckily, the front door closed and I was alone in the house, all except for Esme and Carlisle.

Creeping towards Alice's room—luckily it was on the same floor as me—I looked inside Esme and Carlisle's room to see that no one was there. Edward's room was empty as well. He was probably downstairs waiting for me. Even though we took two separate cars, he still waited for me at the entrance of the house. Sighing, I made my way to Alice's room and saw her student card on her dresser, where it always was. She forgot it constantly. The only reason she would use it would be for the library, which she rarely went to. And lucky for me, her locker combination was taped on the side of her mirror. _Please forgive me Alice,_ I thought while writing the combination on a notepad, grabbing her student card and racing downstairs to meet up with Edward.

"Ready to go love?" He asked with that handsome smile of his. Hearing him call me love broke my heart. All of them were innocent in this whole thing and there was nothing I could do to fix this. What else could go wrong these days?

Nodding, we walked out of the house, saying our goodbyes to Esme and Carlisle and driving in our appropriate cars to school. Maybe hell would accept me willingly when I die. It seemed appropriate for someone like me to go there, after everything that's happening.

During all of my classes, I couldn't help but feel guilty. My stomach contorted and made me feel sick to my very core. My siblings kept asking me what was wrong and I'd just lie to them. Lying started to become a habit of mine, knowing that this stupid secret had to be kept from everyone, including my friends and family. Angela was worried about me constantly during class but again, she had to be pushed aside.

When lunch came, my heart and stomach twisted uncontrollably when I grabbed the spare key in my locker. How had that man known my combination? Doesn't matter… Alice came up to me with her wallet—she never brought her purse to lunch. She thought it would get dirty easily and she always kept it in her locker—and smiled. "Ready to go to lunch?" She asked.

"I'll meet you guys there in a bit. I've got to stop by the library to pick up a book for class. But I'll see you guys in a bit," I assured her, faking a smile as best as possible. She would never forgive me for this. But I hoped she would.

Alice shrugged and said: "Alright, see you there," before running off to meet with Jasper in the cafeteria.

Sighing, I walked towards the principal's office and saw that the secretary was out to lunch. How had the mystery man known that? Pushing the thought aside, I placed the key in the lock and opened the door to the principal's office. Everything was well organized. His desk, full mahogany wood, was placed in the middle of the room. A leather chair stood behind it, probably still warm from the principal sitting on it. Many trophies encased the room. Our principal played a lot of golf and used to play basketball as a teenager at this school. He'd won a lot of trophies and placed them on the side walls to show students how involved he was in Forks High School's activities.

And there was the locket, just lying on his desk beside his golden nameplate. I grabbed the heart locket and looked at it for a second. There, on the back, was engraved in beautiful cursive _I love you dad_. A picture of him, the principal's wife and his daughter was placed in the locket, looking very well. Sighing, I put it in my pocket and began messing up his office. It felt wrong to destroy his trophies so I gently placed them crookedly on the ground and made no indents in the metal. His files and papers on his desk were thrown around the room and his desk, much too heavy for me, was pushed aside slightly. It was the best I could do. When the room was a complete disaster, I took Alice's student card out of my pocket, clutched it to my chest, whispered a: "Please forgive me Alice," and threw it on the ground close to the trophies, where the principal could pick it up.

Walking out of the office, I locked it behind me and ran over to Alice's locker. Opening it, I placed the locket in her purse and the spare key, careful not to move anything, closed her locker and went to the lunch table. Everyone was waiting for me and smiled when they saw me. "What took you so long?" Emmett asked joyfully but still sad that Rosalie wasn't next to him.

"I couldn't find the book I needed for class. It took a while," I lied, sitting down next to Edward and looking at everyone, barely eating my lunch. Right now, I just wanted to die and be forgotten by everyone. It would be much easier.

**Alice's Point of View**

Bella had hardly spoken a word since she entered the lunch room. It worried me that she was barely speaking and eating. What was wrong with her and why wouldn't she talk to us about it? We were her family and she could trust us. Edward saw the change in Bella's behaviour and wanted to talk to her about it but lunch had ended. We all went to our classes and I wasn't able to talk to Bella since she had a different class than I did.

Just as class was about to start, the intercom turns on and the principal's angry voice comes on. "_Alice Cullen, please come to the principal's office now,_" He said, his voice seemed to rise at the end. What had I done? The students gave me weird glances when I passed them by and walked to the principal's office. Knocking on his door, he bellowed an angry: "Come in," and I walked in, scared of what would happen.

But what I saw shocked me.

His office was a complete mess. His trophies were on the floor, scattered but not broken, his papers and files still on the floor, the desk moved inches farther than it was supposed to… What had happened in here? Looking over at the principal, he was sitting in his chair—which he probably had to put back in place—and looked at me with angry eyes. "Sit down Miss Cullen," He ordered and I picked up a chair from the ground and sat down in fear. "I suppose you know why you're here."

"Um… actually, no I don't. What happened here sir?" I asked, looking around for some answer.

His anger suddenly became intense. "Oh, don't try to act innocent! You know exactly what you did!"

"No I don't! What happened?"

"You destroyed my office! That's what happened."

"I didn't do anything!" I screamed back. How could he think that? I would never do something like this. And how could he assume it was me?

"Oh, you say you didn't do it right? Well, how come I found your student card among my scattered trophies?" He asked, picking up my student card and showing it to me. My mouth literally dropped. How in the world did that come into his possession? It was supposed to be at home, on my dresser where it always is! I never bring it to school…

Bella.

She took it from my room and framed me for this. How could she? Bella was supposed to be my sister and she would dare do something like this? How…? Why…?

"I don't know how that came to be there but I didn't do this. I've been framed!" I defended, trying to save myself from suspension or worse. But the principal didn't seem to believe me.

"Then who framed you Miss Cullen?" He asked. Could I rat Bella out? If she had done this, then why shouldn't I tell on her? _Because she's your sister,_ My subconscious told me. And it was right. Bella meant more to me than being suspended. But I would talk to her about this tonight. She couldn't hide from me forever.

"I… I don't know," I lied. If I did say Bella's name, there would have been no proof that she had done it, which meant that I was still the one person to blame. Great…

Looking around his office, fright came into his eyes. His eyes finally landed on me and anger boiled again. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"My daughter's locket. If I found your student card here, you must have taken my daughter's locket as well!" He bellowed angrily. I'd never seen any principal this mad before. But then again, I'd never seen a trashed office like this one before either.

"I don't know where it is," I answered honestly. If Bella was framing me, then she had done a really good job at it.

"Don't lie to me Miss Cullen," He warned again, anger still evident in his eyes.

"I'm not lying!"

He puffed through his nose and stood up, walking out of his office. "Come with me." What had Bella done now? And how could she have framed me for his daughter's locket? Standing up shakily, I followed him to the secretary's office. Mrs. Cope stood beside the principal and we were now walking towards the lockers. Had she…? No, Bella wouldn't go that far… would she? When we arrived in front of my locker, the principal asked me to open it, which I did slowly; afraid of what would happen next. Mrs. Cope started looking through it and ended with my purse.

"May I?" She asked, taking it in her hands.

"Sure, I have nothing to hide," I answered honestly. But would that be the truth?

She started looking through my purse and stopped momentarily. Oh no… Mrs. Cope took out a golden heart locket and handed it to the principal. His anger still resided as he looked at the inscription in the back. "Nothing to hide, eh? Very likely story Miss Cullen…" He answered while placing the locket in his pocket.

"I swear I've never seen that before! It wasn't there at lunch!" I defended myself. Bella had never gone to the library. She went to the principal's office and did this, framing me in the process. And she dared to put his daughter's locket in my purse! She knew my combination. It was on my dresser mirror along with my student card. That's why she was late this morning! God… Bella wasn't my sister anymore. Not after this.

"Miss Cullen, since it is Friday and there is only an hour before school ends, I will find your file through all of the damage you made and find a suitable punishment for you on Monday. I will contact your parents and we will discuss Monday morning. For now, go back to your respectable class and think about what you have done," The principal said, walking back towards his office with Mrs. Cope behind him. She had handed me back my purse before walking towards her desk. How could Bella have done this? It didn't make any sense… Sure, she had been acting strangely for a few days now, ever since the play but that can't be the reason behind this…

Walking back to my class, I was determined to get to the bottom of this. Bella Swan would tell me what the hell was going on with her, one way or another.

I hadn't talked to anyone since the principal blamed me for his damages. Jasper and the rest of them were worried but never asked me what was wrong. When coming back home, Mom had begun scolding me when the others weren't there. Emmett had gone to the hospital to visit Rosalie and was accompanied by Edward and Jasper, leaving me alone with Mom, Dad and… Bella.

"Alice Mary Cullen, explain yourself to me right now! I receive a call this afternoon from the principal saying that you destroyed his office and he found your student card in the mess! Did you do it?" She asked, her tone softening at the end. Mom knew that I never did anything of the sort in all of my years of being at school. "And please Alice, don't lie to me."

"I didn't do it," I answered honestly, looking at her with honest eyes. She could read my like an open book when I let her. And now, I was letting my guards down so she could see that this was not my fault.

And she saw the truth. "Then who do you think could have done it?" I knew who did it but didn't have any proof. Shaking my head, Mom sighed and enticed me in a hug. "We'll talk to the principal on Monday and sort this out," She promised, looking me in the eyes. Mom could never stay mad at anyone for very long.

Nodding, I went upstairs and saw Bella in her room, doing her homework. What a beautiful innocent act… Going in her room, I closed the door behind me and dropped my backpack on the floor, making her look at me. "Hey Alice," She said innocently, pain filling her eyes. What a beautiful act! Anger boiled in me as she lied straight to my face.

"How could you?" I answered angrily, preventing my voice from rising so Mom wouldn't be suspicious.

"What are you talking about?" Bella asked. Her face was an open book and I knew she was lying.

"Like hell you don't know! How dare you do that to me? What'd I ever do to you? I accepted you when you were freakin' badly hurt and in need of a friend and now you _dare_ to do this to me, after all that my family and I have done for you!" I shouted, never regretting what I said. Bella's eyes became even more pained but it didn't matter to me right now. She was my target and she was going to tell me the truth. "Did you destroy the principal's office and frame me for it?" I asked but she kept on staring at me, her eyes practically shouting _YES_. Bella never said a word as my anger boiled over the top. "Answer me, damn it!" I never swore but now, she was really angering me. Again, she didn't say anything. "You're not my sister anymore. I doubt you even know the _meaning_ of the word! Stay as far away from me," I said before leaving her room and slamming my door shut.

Everything I had said to her might have been harsh but… she had angered me so much! And she dared to lie to me. I'd have to talk to Rosalie about this… Would she hurt everyone else like she hurt me?

**Bella's Point of View**

Alice had been so angry with me.

What else could I do? She never wanted to speak to me now, not with what happened. And it was understandable. But for her to say that I wasn't her sister anymore… that hurt more than ever. Of course I knew the meaning of the word 'sister'! She had shown me what that was, everyone had shown me the meaning of love. Now, I didn't know what it was anymore.

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**Very well done. I'll give you the weekend to prepare but on Monday, I want you to break up with your boyfriend.**

That was when I started crying, not eating and not wanting to talk to anyone anymore. Edward was next and there was nothing that anyone could do about it…

**Alright, so emotional and angry chapter I know, but what did you think of Alice's emotional outburst towards Bella? I thought it was well written but that's all your decisions. Please tell me what you think in REVIEWS!**

**Bellacullenswan17**


	8. Edward

**Alright so I see that by the reviews, you guys probably hate me by now for making that mystery man threaten Bella to break up with Edward. Well, get ready to hate me. READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 7

Edward

**Alice's Point of View**

"What?" Rosalie exclaimed as I paced around her hospital room. I came to visit Rose shortly after the guys to see how she was doing but not only that… I needed to calm down and think clearly about everything. Even though Rosalie wasn't always the nicest one to others, she would do anything for her family; even calm them down when they were having one hell of a day. "That doesn't sound like Bella…"

"Yeah well, believe it. The principal practically yelled at me for something _she_ did," I said, sitting down in the chair at the end of the room. "Why in the world would Bella do that? She's been acting weird since that stupid play…"

"Did you talk to her? Maybe she has an explanation for this whole thing," Rosalie said, looking at me with worried eyes. Looking at her face, you could see that her cuts and bruises were starting to heal, and I do mean starting. Though there weren't many of them on her face, Rose still hid them with her hair. She had needed a brace for her broken arm and it seemed to be bothering her often since Rosalie placed her good hand on it. "I mean, we can easily see through her."

Shaking my head, I said: "She won't say a thing. I tried talking to her last night but still nothing. She's hiding something… You know, we keep talking about Bella but has she visited you yet?" Rosalie shook her head and I sighed.

"She's probably just busy." _Yeah, busy planning her next move to break our trust,_ I thought sadly. Where was all this hatred towards Bella coming from? Sure, she had broken my heart by framing me at school… but she must have had her reasons… right? But what were they? "How did you approach her when you got home?"

"Well, I asked her quite angrily if she had framed me and she wouldn't say anything. Bella would just look at me, her eyes practically screaming yes. When she didn't answer, I got mad. I screamed at her to tell me and she still wouldn't do anything. And then…" It was hard to say it again out loud what I had told Bella afterwards. To tell her that she wasn't my sister anymore might have been really harsh and unnecessary.

"What did you tell her after that Alice?" Rosalie asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

Running my fingers through my spiky hair and lowering my head, I said: "I told her she wasn't my sister anymore, that she didn't know the meaning of the word and to stay as far away from me as possible."

"ALICE!" Rosalie screamed at me, horrified at what I said. "How could you _say_ that?"

"Well, I was angry! And… and can you really blame me? She's getting me probably suspended for who knows how long! Sure, it might have been harsh but—"

"Alice, it wasn't just harsh. Imagine how she's feeling right now. And where is that stupid doctor with my release form?"

"Rosie, calm down," I tried to say but she was impatient and slightly furious, a dangerous mix. The doctor had told Rosalie that she was able to leave the hospital shortly but that had been nearly fifteen minutes ago. Rosalie was getting seriously impatient. Plus, she never liked staying at the hospital. "And don't you think I kinda feel bad about what I said to her already?"

"Kind of feel bad? You mean to tell me that you actually _meant_ what you said to Bella?" She asked, her tone rising. Flinching at her tone, I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"I don't know. I guess not… I was just angry at the time. It was just—" Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket, indicating I was either getting a text message or a call. Looking at my phone, Jasper had sent me a text. "Jasper and Emmett are asking to double date tonight since you're being released. You feel up to it?"

"Alice, don't change the subject."

"Look, if Bella ever comes out of her room, I'll try and apologize, alright?" I said, feeling really guilty at the moment. It had been totally wrong to say those things to Bella, I agree and to be angry at the time was no excuse for the things that were said. A few minutes before coming to visit Rosalie, I had heard Bella crying in her room. Trying to turn the handle to her room was impossible since she had locked herself in her room.

"Bella locked herself in her room?" Nodding, Rosalie shook her head. "Ok, something is definitely wrong with her."

"But what? We've tried many things and they're not working. What do you suggest we do? Wait for her to pick us off one by one?" Rosalie glared at me and I sighed. "Sorry… I guess I'm still a little upset from today."

"That's still no excuse Alice. Bella is our friend _and_ our sister. That won't change. And if something is bugging her that much, then we should get to the bottom of it, not push it away. And tell Jasper that the date is on," Rosalie said, making me nod.

"I know…" was my only reply while sending our reply to the boys.

The doctor came in soon afterwards and told Rosalie she was free to go. We drove back home and Rosalie immediately went towards Bella's room. The door was still locked and you could still hear Bella's faint cries. My heart clenched in guilt, thinking that it could be my fault that she was crying.

"Bella, honey, it's Rosalie. Please open up," Rosalie asked, knocking on Bella's door softly and using her sweet voice that she used rarely, only with me at desperate times.

"Please go away…" Bella responded faintly, her voice thick with tears and pain. My heart clenched in sadness. Had my words affected Bella that much? She _was_ my sister! Since the moment I tried to be friends with her the minute we met, I knew that we were going to be great friends and sisters in the figurative meaning. Now it was in the literal sense.

"Bella, we just want to talk," Rosalie tried again, glaring at me from the corner of her eye.

"Please…" Bella pleaded sadly. Rosalie sighed and let it be, glaring at me. Oh no, this wasn't going to end well.

"_You're_ going to talk to her and apologize when she comes out, _if_ she comes out," She warned before walking towards her room, preparing herself for our double date in a few hours.

Looking back at Bella's door, her faint cries could still be heard. What was Bella going through at the moment? It couldn't just be a simple problem. It was something big if she couldn't talk to us about it. But… I'd have to find that out when she came out of her room. Whispering a small: "I'm sorry," to Bella, knowing that she couldn't hear me through the wooden door, I walked out of the hallway and towards my room to prepare myself as well for our date.

I really did feel guilty now. Sure, Bella had done an awful thing to me but that doesn't mean that I can just push her aside like a plate of grist and tell her that she isn't my sister anymore. That was much uncalled for. I really did want to apologize now, hoping that she would accept my apology. But… could I forgive her for her actions? Not right now…

**Bella's Point of View**

Monday had arrived at a very fast pace. And it wasn't something that I was ready for. Not in the least. Breaking up with Edward would break _me_ to pieces, leave me vulnerable and weak. I'd tried to imagine what to say to him but it was just too painful. Edward and Carlisle had gone hiking for the weekend, a father and son thing. At least that had given me a few days to prepare myself, mentally and emotionally.

Esme, Rosalie and surprisingly Alice had tried to get me to come out of my room but the only reason I would come out would be to use the bathroom. I wasn't hungry or wanted to talk to anyone, much less the person who told me that we weren't sisters anymore. The adoption papers had come in and the only person that needed to sign it was me. Esme slipped it under my door and I looked at it. Esme and Carlisle had signed it—he probably signed it before leaving for the trip—and the only person that needed to put in their signature was me. But… could I do it? After Alice telling me that we weren't sisters anymore? Edward would never want me anymore, not after what would happen Monday… So I left it on my nightstand for now, still deciding.

Sunday night, the mystery man decided to give me a call.

"_What's with all of the crying? They're getting suspicious,_" He said, making a tear fall down my face. This couldn't happen. Oh, how I wish this was a simple nightmare and that it would disappear soon.

"Why can't you just leave me alone…?" I asked, my voice raspy with thick tears.

"_But see, this is all the best part. To see you suffer this much is just icing on the cake. Have you figured out what you would say to your precious Edward?_" He cooed, making me feel even worse. This man was sick, playing with my emotions and what I loved most of all.

Gulping, I muttered a simple: "Yes," and he seemed pleased.

"_Good. Now get it done. Monday morning in the parking lot. Don't fail me Isabella,_" The man said before hanging up, leaving me alone in my dark room. Holding the picture of Edward and me embracing one another at the play in my hands, I wanted desperately to go back to those days when things weren't so horrible. When Edward could hold me and I would feel safe, not fear. Fear for his life. Those were the good times… Now everything would break in one instant.

Monday morning, I drove to the parking lot of the school and saw Edward waiting for me with a smile. He didn't suspect a thing with me. Maybe I was a better actress that I thought… No, not if Rosalie could see through me. Sighing, I lowered my head, whispered a: "Please forgive me…" and jumped out of my truck, walking towards him.

Edward waited for me with open arms, smiling that crooked smile that I loved so much and enveloped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer to him. "I missed you this weekend love," He whispered to me while kissing me, probably for the last time.

This was it…

"Edward, we need to talk," I said, separating from him.

Edward looked at me and worry etched on his face. "What's the matter love? Are you alright?" He asked, noticing my lifeless face and tone of voice.

"I… I don't think this is working anymore," I said, looking away from him and seeing Rosalie and Alice come into the parking lot, Emmett and Jasper following shortly behind them.

"Wait a second… are you breaking up with me?" He asked, unable to believe it. Nodding, Edward seemed shocked and unable to speak. "Bella, I… I can change! If that's what it takes to keep us together, then I'll do whatever you want! You want space, I'll give you space. If you—"

"Edward, it's not you, it's me. I'm not good for you."

"That's not true! You're perfect for me!"

"I don't feel the love anymore between us." _Please Edward, let me leave,_ I thought to myself as he pleaded me not to do this. But there was no other choice. How badly I wanted to let the truth out here and now but it was too dangerous. They could still be killed with one wrong move on my part…

"That's a lie! How come every time I kiss you, you kiss me back so passionately? You can't pretend that Bella," Edward said, his eyes filling with pain. But I still loved him more than anything. There wasn't anything else that I wanted more than him in my life. I could feel my heart breaking at this very instant. Alice and Rosalie stopped in front of their cars when they saw Edward and me. What would they think of me now? "Please Bella, don't do this to us."

"I'm sorry Edward but it's over. I… don't want you anymore," I said, my voice breaking ever so slightly. Edward didn't notice it, lucky me… His face became unreadable and serious, not a good sign.

"The moment you said to me that I shouldn't be near you, I didn't listen. But I should have. Maybe it would have saved me from this heartbreak now. My only regret was loving you Bella Swan," He said before walking away, Tanya Denali not far behind him. I know that he was just angry with me but his words… they hurt worse than a thousand deaths. I just stood there, his words sinking my heart and practically killing me.

My heart kept telling me to run to him and explain myself but my conscious said otherwise. It told me that the mystery man was still out there and that he would kill my family if I did something wrong.

**Mystery Man's Point of View**

My work has been done. This girl was completely destroyed. Watching the scene from the parking lot had been a laugh riot. It brought music to my ears to hear Bella's boyfriend—or should I say ex-boyfriend—tell her that he regretted loving her. My job was done. But I wasn't done with Bella. She pleased me.

Just as I was about to hear what Bella would do next, my computer and all electronic system shut down. "Damn it!" I cursed, knowing that they were in need of new batteries. And unfortunately, I had left everything at the cabin. That would take a few hours to get back. Damn it… What if she would do something reckless and exposed me in the process?

Sighing, I thought to myself while running back towards the cabin, equipment in hand: _That was just a risk that I was willing to take. If she did, then her family would die. Simple as that._

**Bella's Point of View**

Everything about me felt wrong. I was a monster for doing such a thing to innocent people. Alice, Rosalie, Edward… they were all innocent. Taking a deep breath, I stalked inside the school, determined to do something right at the moment. Walking away from Edward, who had his arm now around Tanya Denali—the thought of it made me completely sick—and seemed completely blank, I marched up to the principal's office and knocked on his door. "Come in," The principal said and I entered his now clean office. It must have taken a little while to get everything rearranged in its natural order after the mess I had made. "Miss Swan, what can I do for you today?"

"Sir, it wasn't Alice who trashed your office." He looked at me curiously, hoping to know who it was. "It was me. I… I framed Alice Cullen."

He made me sit down and try to explain myself. Of course, I had no explanation to defend myself with but the fact that he was hearing me apologize and tell the truth in front of him seemed to convince him that Alice was innocent. He suspended me for a week's time and seemed very disappointed in me, not that I could blame him. The principal told me to leave the school at this moment, seeing as classes had not started and not to come back to school until Tuesday morning. It seemed a reasonable punishment. Alice wouldn't be suspended and I would be. Perfect fit. Walking out of the principal's office, the intercom turned on and he asked for Alice to come to his office, probably to tell her she was exonerated. At least my heart would feel slightly better.

**Alice's Point of View.**

Bella had just broken up with Edward. And now he was hanging on to Tanya like she was a life support system. The nerve of him! Although, he didn't seem conscious of his actions. My brother's face was just unreadable. Bella broke his heart in thousands of pieces. How _could_ she? But… it was very strange. Bella loved Edward more than life itself. Anyone could see that. Why would she break up with him…?

Rosalie and I looked at each other to try to find an answer, but of course, there wasn't one. We had stood in the parking lot for a while, trying to understand what had just happened but we couldn't put our finger on it. Everything Bella was doing was just too bizarre… too abnormal.

"She'd never break up with him…" Rosalie whispered as we finally walked inside the school after much consideration and going towards our first class. "She loves him too much."

"Maybe it's just following the whole 'framing me' thing?" Rosalie shrugged and was about to go to her locker when suddenly, the intercom turns on and the principal's voice echoes through the whole school.

"_Would Alice Cullen please come to the principal's office please? Alice Cullen to the principal's office. Thank you,_" He said before the intercom shut off and I sighed.

"Great… punishment time," I whispered sadly.

Rosalie gave me a small squeeze on the shoulder and I walked towards the principal's office, walking past Bella on the way. We eyed each other from the corner of our eyes, time seeming to stop momentarily as I looked at my sister. As she turned her head back towards the ground and walked past me, a tear fell from her eye and she walked out of the school. Why would she cry? And didn't she have to go to class?

When coming up to the principal's office, I sighed and knocked once before entering his office. He smiled at me and asked me to sit down. Well, he certainly changed his mood from the last time we spoke… "I suppose you've made your decision on my punishment?" _Which I don't deserve…_

"Yes, about that… It seems you have been exonerated." My mouth dropped. Maybe it hadn't been Bella. She was too sweet to do anything like this… I was probably judging her too harshly at the moment. "The true perpetrator came up to me this morning and told the truth. Your parents have been called and they don't need to come to the school. We didn't give out the name of the perpetrator, since she didn't want to be named, but you have been pronounced not guilty. I'm truly sorry for thinking the worst of you Alice and I hope that you can forgive me," The principal said with a small smile. Wait, he said _she_ didn't want to be named… _could_ it have been Bella that had confessed and cleared my name?

"Of course," was my simple reply. What else was there to say? He probably wouldn't give me the name of the perpetrator but I had an idea who it was. Bella had done a good deed by clearing my name.

"Now that that is cleared, you might want to head to your first class. I'm sure you're slightly late but give this to the teacher and you'll be alright," The principal said as he wrote a small note for the teacher and handed it to me.

"Thank you," I said before walking out of his office, my mind still frazzled. At least I wasn't in trouble…

Walking back to class, the teacher took the note without questions and told me to sit down and take the notes. Class went by slowly but when the break between classes came, Rosalie was the first to tackle me with questions.

"So, what did the principal say?" She asked worriedly.

Shrugging, I said: "I've been exonerated." Her mouth fell open as the others rushed to us. All except for Bella and Edward. He must still be hanging onto Tanya for dear life.

"So Ali, are you in trouble? What did the principal say?" Jasper asked while embracing me.

"Yeah, how much trouble are you in?" Emmett asked, enticing Rosalie with one arm. He must have missed her a lot. He couldn't keep his mouth off of her on our double date. She really did have a strong influence on him.

"None." They all looked at me as if the principal had gone insane. "Someone confessed to him and exonerated me."

"Wow… I'll have to thank that certain person," Jasper said with a smile as he kissed my spiky hair. Rosalie looked at me and asked with her eyes if it was Bella. I couldn't answer her question until I knew for sure that it was actually Bella who had confessed to the crime. If she would ever talk to someone again…

**So, what did you think? Bella's suspended, Alice is exonerated, Edward is hanging around Tanya… What has the world come to? Well, tell me what you think in REVIEWS!**

**Bellacullenswan17**

15


	9. Enough

**I stopped writing for a while because I kept getting bad reviews about this story. But now, I'm leaving for 2 weeks with no internet and so I thought that I'd be nice and see if I got any GOOD reviews on this small chapter. So please, leave all the bad reviews aside or else I will stop this story. I was getting tired of getting bad reviews. And now I know that this story is not the best but I am trying. So please, read and review.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 8

Enough

**Alice****'s Point of View**

When getting home, Mom came up to me, smiling. But that didn't last long. She knew that by expression, something was wrong. "Alice, I heard that you were exonerated. Aren't you happy?" Mom asked, holding me in a soft embrace. The only thing that went through my mind is that Bella took the fall. But she had been the cause of everything. It had been right for her to exonerate me right?

"Yeah, I am. I guess I'm just tired from today. I think I just need to lie down. Is that alright with you Mom?" I asked as she rubbed my arm softly. Mom didn't seem to be aware of Bella's acts. Had she been able to fool everyone? Amazing… in some way. Bella was scamming everyone by doing all of this but at least she'd made up for one thing. "By the way, have you seen Edward?"

"He called and said that he would be home for dinner but that was it. Has something happened?"

"Um… yeah," Rosalie said sadly. "Bella broke up with him this morning," She explained, looking Mom right in the eyes.

Mom's eyes widened and she ran her fingers through her caramel coloured hair. She sighed and said: "What is going on through Bella's head? She would _never_ break up with Edward. She loves him too much."

"Where is Bella anyways?" Rosalie asked. Frankly, it had been running through my mind as well. She had left so quickly after I was called to the principal's office. And with what I said Friday, things needed to be worked over. I had to apologize to her. She couldn't go on thinking that I hated her… it wasn't right. "We haven't seen her at school today."

"At around ten this morning, she drove up and went right up to her room. Bella didn't speak and she had looked like she'd been crying. It was right after the principal called me and explained that you had been freed from suspension. I've tried to talk to her but her door is locked and she won't talk to me," Esme replied sadly, looking at the staircase leading upstairs. So Bella was stuck in her room again.

"We can try and go talk to her if you want?" I asked, having Mom turn back to us and nodded slowly. Looking at Rosalie, she nodded and pushes me softly in my back, indicating we should go now. Looking back at Mom, I said: "We'll be right back," before walking up the stairs.

Rosalie stopped me as we rounded the stairs and stood away from Mom's view by grabbing my elbow and pulling me softly to the side. "Alice, what exactly happened today?"

"What do you mean? You were there."

"Yes, I was. But there's something wrong and it looks like you know what's going on. Let me in on this," Rosalie said. Damn. My sister knew me inside and out. Even in these critical times, she knew when something was wrong. And she would always question me about it. "So spill Ali."

Sighing, I began telling her. "I think Bella's the one who exonerated me. And the fact that she broke up with Edward is really unusual. Something is obviously not right here…"

"Well, we all know something's not right but do you really think she'll tell us that easily?" Rosalie asked, looking me right in the eyes. In fact, that was a good question. Would we be able to talk to Bella that easily and get information from her? Bella seemed so broken these days. She gave up her dream, her love, her family… everything. "Bella seems really guarded these days. I don't think she'll talk that easily."

"Well, it won't hurt us to try, will it?" I asked before walking up to the door to Bella's room. But there was talking happening on the other side of the door. Who was Bella talking to? Looking at Rosalie with confused eyes, she shrugged, as confused as I was at the moment, and pressed her ear to the door soundlessly. So spying was our only option right now. So be it. Pressing my ear to the door, I tried very hard to hear what Bella was saying on the other side of the door. But she was nearly whispering. It would be a challenge. Come on Bella… what was going on?

**Bella's Point of View**

When coming back home, I entered the house, walking past Esme along the way and ran up to my room, locking the door behind me. Then the tears began flowing down. Poor Edward. That look he gave me. And his words. My heart couldn't break anymore today. At least Alice would be exonerated. The principal had suspended me for two weeks. And who knows. Esme would punish me for a month, maybe even more. Something had to be done. How much could this mystery man do to me?

Going over to my bed, I fell on it and began to cry my eyes out. But soon after the tears began pouring, Esme's voice came to me. She seemed rather upset. But she could never understand—none of them could understand—what was going on.

"Bella? Bella, open up. Please. It's me, Esme. Please talk to me," She said over and over but I never spoke a word. Just cried my eyes out. After quite some time, Esme didn't receive any response from me and must have left from the door's entrance. But I couldn't tell anyone. Besides, the principal must have called her and informed her of the situation. She probably simply wanted to hear my side of the story. But my side of the story involved the mystery man, and he had to be kept a secret.

But… I couldn't take anymore of this. Enough was enough.

Standing up, I was about to call him and demand him to stop this but he beat me to it. My phone buzzed in my hand and the caller ID said unknown. It was him. Picking up the phone, his chilling voice rang in my ear. "_What do you think you're you doing?_"

"Please stop this. Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you to deserve this?" I asked, nearly shouting.

"_Keep your voice down! You don't want anyone else getting hurt now do you? I have your adoptive mother in sight. One wrong move and she goes bye bye,_" The mystery man said. My blood froze and my eyes widened. He could kill Esme. That man was cold hearted enough to be after her and threaten me with her life? How low would he go. "_Answer me._"

"Please… just leave them alone. They don't deserve all of this!"

"_Who said that they deserved it? I sure didn't. I'm after you. And getting back at them is just icing on the cake. By hurting them, I'm hurting you in the cruellest way possible. Everyone wins… except you,_" The mystery man said, making my eyes water even more.

"Please! I'm begging you! Just stop."

"_I'm not going to stop until I have what I want. And that is you destroyed. Now—_" His dialogue was interrupted when Alice's voice rang through my room from the opposite side of the door.

"Bella, what's going on? Who are you talking to?" She asked worriedly. Since when did she start caring again? She hated me.

"Bella, open up. It's us," Rosalie said from the other side. God! They knew something was going on! They couldn't find out!

"Um… nothing's going on! Everything's fine!" I tried to say but the mystery man on the phone seemed aggravated. Oh no… This was not good… My blood became colder at the thought of Esme in danger. God… _Guys, just leave me alone! Please! You're all in danger!_

"It's not fine Bella! Please let us in! We need to talk! And who are you talking to? Bella, talk to us please!" Alice said, knocking on the door. Couldn't they just hate me like before?

"Guys, please just—"

_BANG!_

**So what did you guys think? Let me know in some reviews please. And again, I won't post for 2 weeks since I won't have any internet.**

**Bellacullenswan17**

5


	10. Another attack

**OK SO I'VE WRITTEN TWO CHAPTERS FOR EVERY STORY (EXCEPT THE LONG CHAPTERS SUCH AS THE PRINCE AND THE STREET RAT THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER) SO ONCE I GET SOME REVIEWS, YOU'LL BE GETTING THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR THIS STORY. ****Alright so here's another chapter. Hope you guys like it. Got inspired on this one. And I see that you guys really liked the other one and reviewed some NICE reviews this time so I'm very happy. And now, please read and review.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 9

Another attack

**Bella****'s Point of View**

The worst sound in the world was just heard. A gunshot. Followed by the sound of breaking glass. "Mom?" Alice called from the opposite side of the door. There was the sound of running footsteps, then a few seconds later, two screams. No... this couldn't be happening.

"_I told you to keep your voice down. You suffered the price Bella. It's your fault she's slowly dying,_" The mystery man said, making my blood turn even colder than before. My fault...? What happened?

Throwing my phone onto the bed without bothering to close it, I unlocked the door, opened it roughly and ran out of the room towards the living room. And what I saw before me made me stop and stare in horrible terror. Esme was sprawled onto the floor, her head elevated onto Alice's lap and her side bleeding ferociously. A broken bowl lay beside her, its contents all over the floor, staining Esme's beautiful caramel coloured hair. Rosalie was talking on the phone, possibly to the police. Alice lay there, stroking her mother's hair and crying her eyes out. Esme was shaking as her blood seeped onto the floor. She was getting paler by the second and sweat formed on her forehead. It was all my fault... I should have been quieter... He wouldn't have shot her if I hadn't shouted and alerted Alice and Rosalie. Esme wouldn't be bleeding to death if it weren't for me!

In that moment, Alice looked at me and seemed to be screaming something at me but I was too in shock. Everything around me seemed to have stopped. All sounds, nearly all movements, everything. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Carlisle walked in through the door, saw Esme on the floor and dropped the grocery bags he'd been holding and rushed over to her side, ordering Alice to do something as he assessed the damage. Alice ran past me, came back with a leather bag—Carlisle's medical kit he'd left upstairs—and handed it over to him. As Carlisle began stitching the wound to help Esme until the paramedics arrived, Alice walked over to me, her eyes still glistening with tears, and slapped me violently, snapping me out of my shock along with snapping my head to the side.

"Why are you just standing there? Don't you care about her? Mom's _dying_ and you're just standing there doing _nothing_!" She yelled at me, making my shock grow even more. She was even angrier with me now. How much longer was I going to hurt them? I didn't turn my head to look at her, simply closed my eyes and waited for her anger to dissipate, which would probably never happen. "She cared about you more than anyone! And you're letting her die!" She yelled, shaking me vigorously.

"Alice, stop!" Rosalie said, placing her good hand upon Alice's shoulder and trying to pry her off of me but I simply held my ground and stayed silent. She hated me. Alice said that she would never hurt me and she had just slapped me right across the face, making a red welt form on my cheek.

"Rosalie, let me go!" Alice said, crying even more as she struggled within her sister's now firm grasp. Suddenly, the sound of the paramedics were heard from afar and Rosalie and Alice both stopped to look down at Carlisle, who seemed to be done stitching Esme. He had placed a cloth upon the wound and stroked Esme's hair as she looked weakly at him. But Carlisle looked horror-struck. His wife was lying on the floor, nearly bleeding to death, all because of my stupidity. I got Rosalie in an accident and Esme on the verge of death. I don't deserve to live.

For a few minutes, the world seemed to be in slow motion. The paramedics burst through the door, hurried over to Esme and placed her on a stretcher, trying to comfort a now frantic Carlisle. He had done a good job in saving Esme but he was still extremely worried about her. Rosalie and Alice left me alone and ran after the paramedics, entering the ambulance along with Carlisle. Esme was pulled into the ambulance and they shut the door soundlessly. Well, not soundlessly to anyone but to me, everything stopped once again.

The memory of the mystery man's last words haunted me still. _It's your fault she's slowly dying._ It was my fault. Everything that had happened since the play was my fault. All the pain I caused... I had to get away from them. But if I did, would this mystery man come after the Cullens? Who knew... I certainly didn't.

_It's your fault she's slowly dying.__ It's your fault she's slowly dying. It's your fault she's slowly dying._ The thought just kept replaying... It would never escape my mind. Neither would Esme's dying form surrounded by her blood.

My best chance was to try and escape from here. But first, I had to make sure she was alright. It was crucial to see if Esme would make it. She _had_ to make it. She just had to... Esme has a whole family waiting for her when she returns from the hospital. She has a family to take care of.

Which doesn't include me anymore.

Running over to my truck, I began the truck and drove as fast as I could to the hospital, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles turned white with the effort. She has to make it. She just has to... _It's your fault she's slowly dying. _God... why had I acted so stupidly? I knew that it would risk someone's life if I acted out. And it did. It nearly cost Esme her life. Or it did... She couldn't be dead! Someone with that much life couldn't possibly die. Esme was too good to leave this world.

When arriving to the hospital, I parked near Edward's Volvo, knowing that he had probably arrived her moments before I did. Carlisle and the others must already be inside, waiting outside of Esme's room. There was no time to waste. Jumping out of my truck, my legs moved before my brain could register and I ran through the hospital, asking for Esme Cullen's room and running in that direction.

_It's your fault she's slowly dying._

She had to make it...

Maybe with Carlisle's help, she would make it out safely and Esme would return to her loving family. Yeah, that's what must have happened. Carlisle got to Esme just in time.

Arriving in front of the hospital room, the other Cullens were assembled in the chairs in front of the door, Alice and Rosalie crying upon one another's shoulders, Edward pacing and Carlisle with his head in his hands, trying to stay calm. When my feet stopped running and stood before the door, they all turned their gazes towards me. All except for Edward. He wouldn't dare look at me. To him, I was probably the worse monster in this world. And I was. Nothing else. A monster. Someone who should be destroyed and burnt to ashes for my hideous crimes.

Turning my attention to probably the only person who would talk to me, I asked Carlisle: "When did they take her in?" My voice shook with each word.

"Just a few minutes ago. They say that it's going to be a close call," Carlisle said, his voice nearly as dead as Esme looked back at the house. God... he was heartbroken. A man who once always showed compassion and kept his calm was dying inside. He was so upset. All because of me. "All we have to do is wait."

Nodding, I walked away from the others and slumped against the wall opposite them. Running my fingers through my hair, we waited until the doctor came out.

_It's your fault she's slowly dying._

It must have been about an hour before a doctor in a white lab coat came out of Esme's room looking exhausted. The others all stood up and ran over to the doctor, nearly suffocating him with their closeness. For me, I stood up and watched them all from a distance, unable to do anymore. It wouldn't be wise to be near them after everything that happened because of me.

The doctor began speaking before the Cullens could bombard him with any questions. He turned to Carlisle and spoke. "Your wife lost a lot of blood but she's going to be just fine." A sigh of relief escaped my lips to know Esme would be alright. But she had still lost a lot of blood. "Her heart had stopped beating for a few seconds on the hospital bed but we were able to resuscitate her before anything else happened. She's resting now but you can go and see her momentarily," The doctor explained to the family. He turned back to Carlisle and extended his hand. "It was nice thinking to sew the wound before she bled to death. Although your licence was revoked for a period of time, we do thank you for saving the patient for us. It goes against the policy but we'll let this one slide," The doctor said with a small wink before walking away. Carlisle wasn't going to get punished for his actions. My actions. Esme was going to be alright. She was going to live... that was probably the best news I'd heard all day. So many things had happened... My heart was just breaking slowly and soon, there would be nothing left.

The Cullens walked in but I couldn't. I couldn't stand by and look at Esme's weak form lying on the bed. She had gotten hurt and died on the table because of me! Because of my _stupidity_! Walking up to the closed door, I placed my hand on it and leaned my forehead against the door. "I'm so sorry..." I whispered very low. Closing my eyes, a single tear fell down my cheek before it became too much for me to be close to the door and I walked away, feeling too terrible to do anything else.

This was all my fault... They wouldn't never forgive me for anything. My fingertips went to my slightly sensitive cheek while walking and my mind kept replaying the slap Alice had given me more than an hour ago. She didn't deserve someone like that in her life. No one did. It'd be best if I just left now. Maybe now that I didn't have my cell phone with me, the mystery man wouldn't be able to reach me and threaten me. It was a safety net I suppose...

Reaching the parking lot, I looked at Edward's Volvo and imagined his smile, that wonderful smile that showed me how much he loved me. But the image soon faded and came to the broken face I'd seen when breaking up with him in the parking lot. He was destroyed because of me... they all were. Closing my eyes, I entered the truck, started it and drove away, fresh tears sliding down my face.

My life was literally over. After Charlie was taken away by the police, I had believed that the Cullens would be my perfect family. They loved me when my horrible father was taken away. We were happy. But that was all destroyed when _he_ first sent me that message. Everything began to fall apart. All because of that man... All because of me.

While driving, my hand kept going to my face to wipe away the tears that kept falling. I'd taken a detour from the house to help me think but nothing came to mind. All of this was simply agonizing. How could that mystery man do this to me? What had I ever done to him? Nothing was worse than this emotional pain...

Just as I was driving on a small road through a forest, something happened, making me panic. A _snap_ was heard through the sound of my wheels going against the rough road and a screeching came soon afterwards. The steering wheel turned in an out of control matter and I tried desperately to clutch it and make the turning stop but then the truck began spinning out of control. My mind wasn't comprehending what was happening to me. It was simply screaming, along with me. I screamed loudly but could never get the truck to go back to normal. The trees were approaching me rapidly and in an instant, my eyes closed as the front of my truck slammed into the trees, forcing my head forward and hitting the steering wheel harshly.

My body slumped forward and my vision spun rapidly. Something trickled down my forehead. Blood. My steering wheel didn't have any protection against crashes. That was the consequence of using such a dangerous vehicle. My arm was sprawled on the steering wheel and my head laid against it. My eyes closed halfway as I began to see dark spots cloud my vision.

But something was approaching me. Unfortunately, as my vision darkened, his form became darker. A small moan of pain escaped my lips as he opened my truck door and peered inside to look at me.

"Gotcha..." His voice seemed distant but I wasn't able to hang on anymore. Something grabbed me and darkness won me over.

**Alice's Point of View**

We'd all entered to go see Mom. They'd said that he was alright and that she needed rest. But all that mattered was that Mom was alright. In my eyes, that really was all that counted. She might have died on that operating table—which scared us all to death, worse for Dad—but she'd come back to us. Dad walked inside first, then I entered, followed by Rosalie and Edward and we all looked at Mom. She lay on the bed, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful but her features were pale and weak. An oxygen tube was attached under her nose and helped her sleep. But Mom was really alive. She was going to make it.

But, from time to time, I kept looking down at my hand. The recollection of slapping Bella more than an hour ago made my hand shake. I said I'd never hurt her and I had done just that. I'd slapped my best friend and my sister. Oh god... Just because I was angry and upset and scared. She probably would never forgive me.

Rosalie placed a hand on my shoulder and looked soothingly in my eyes, saying that everything would be alright. But where was Bella? She hadn't entered with us. But then again, we did shun her after finding Mom sprawled on the floor. What had happened? And who was Bella talking to? She was crying and talking to someone. It couldn't have been to herself. She _had_ been talking to someone. And that someone was scaring her to death. But who?

Looking over to Edward, he just seemed lifeless. First, losing the girl of his dreams and then finding Mom nearly dead. This must be breaking him in pieces. How could Bella have broken up with him? That was still the main question I kept asking myself. Rosalie was doing the same. She was examining all of this carefully. Something sinister was happening at the moment.

And that something involved Bella.

**Alright so what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some reviews please.**

**Bellacullenswan17**

9


	11. Clues

**Alright so here's a long chapter for you all. I know I lost a lot of reviewers because of the wait but whoever is still reading this story, please read and review.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 10

Clues

**Rosalie****'s Point of View**

Something really wasn't right. The moment we try to get to Bella, Mom gets shot. Edward's heart was broken because Bella broke up with him, Alice nearly gets suspended and before that, I get in an accident. Something wasn't right. And where was Bella right now? She couldn't have just vanished. But... Bella looked so distraught when arriving at the hospital. What had happened to her back there? She froze when seeing Mom and didn't utter a word until we all stood in the waiting room. Might not have helped that Alice slapped her right across the face but there was something happening with Bella.

Edward drove us back home while Dad stayed beside Mom. He couldn't leave her alone, especially not after what happened. Mom was innocent... who would hurt her that way? Alice kept looking down at her hands, still remembering how she had hurt Bella back there. It wasn't her fault. She was simply in shock and upset. Alice would never intentionally hurt Bella. We all know that. But it still happened and Alice felt horrible about it. Placing my free hand on hers, she looked at me sadly. I smiled reassuringly at her and she seemed to calm down slightly. Alice leaned her head against my arm and breathed in deeply.

"Do you think she's at the house?" Alice whispered, being careful not to upset Edward more than he already was. Having Bella break their relationship was the hardest blow he could ever have, even worse than seeing Bella near death with Charlie just a few months ago. "She looked so upset... I need to apologize. I never meant to—"

"I know Ali. And she knows that too. But Bella'll be alright. We'll get to the bottom of this. Someway..." I whispered back as we neared the house. Pulling into the driveway, only Dad's Mercedes was in the garage. Bella's truck was nowhere to be found. Maybe she simply needed to take some time to herself. Bella would come home eventually. She always would... I hope.

We entered and tried to look away from the pool of blood on the ground. Someone had to clean it up. Edward walked over to the kitchen, grabbed a towel and began cleaning the blood, looking down constantly.

"Edward..." I whispered, hating to see my brother like this.

"It's fine Rosalie," He replied lifelessly, never taking his eyes off the blood. Edward... Poor him. He was suffering more than anyone thought. I felt bad for leaving him like this but what else could I do? What else could _anyone_ do? He wanted to suffer alone... That was Edward. If he and Bella ever began talking again, would he hate her for the rest of his life? "Go rest. I've got this."

Biting my lip, I shook my head, grabbed a towel and kneeled down to help him. He looked at me and his eyes only held sadness. Nothing more. Wiping the blood away with him, our fingers clashed once and I placed my hand on top of his. Edward's eyes pierced me once again. "You don't have to go through this alone Edward. We're here to help you as much as we can. You know that," I said softly, trying to help my brother. It was horrible to see him like this, so broken. How could Bella have done this? There must have been a good reason behind it. There had better be one...

"You don't understand Rosalie..." was his only reply as Edward looked back down and cleaned the rest of the blood. He stood up and grabbed a mop with some bleach to try and get rid of the smell. I stood up, looking at him and only staring. "Thanks for the help Rose..." Edward whispered as he cleaned by himself. Poor Edward.

Walking away from him, Alice and I walked up the stairs and stopped before Bella's open door. Bella... She still wasn't home and it had been a few hours since Mom was brought in. Was she blaming herself for this...? Bella wasn't anywhere near Esme when it happened. Alice looked at the open door, took a deep breath and decided to walk in. What was she thinking?

"Alice?" I asked as she looked around the room.

"Bella's been cooped up in her room for days now. Something in here might give us a clue as to what's happening right now," Alice said, going in Bella's closet and looking through the clothes but finding nothing. She moved to the desk, went through some papers and lifted her head to look at me. "Well? Are you going to help me?"

"Alice, are you sure that the answer is in her room? What if it's just Bella?"

"You said so yourself that it doesn't sound like Bella. Well, I think so too. There's something sinister going on. We can all see that but no one is trying to do anything about it. Well, I'm going to do something about it and I'm going to do it with or without your help, Rose," Alice said before going back to looking through the papers on Bella's desk. She had a point. Something sinister was going on. And it somehow tied in to Bella.

Deciding to help, I walked over to Bella's nightstand table and looked through the drawers only to find nothing. We looked everywhere: under the bed, in the closet, desk, drawers, everything. Then, something shined in the small light of the room. Bella's cell phone on her bed. Would it help us?

"Alice, come here." Alice followed me and picked up Bella's phone. It was open, like it hadn't been closed for a few hours. She flipped it around, looking at it in all directions and, to my surprise, began looking in its files. "Alice, what are you doing?"

Alice looked at me and seemed shocked that I'd ask a question like that. "What do you think I'm doing? Trying to find some answers. What if what we're looking for is in some calls or something? Maybe even her texts?"

The idea of looking through Bella's phone didn't seem right but right now, nothing made sense. Except finding some answers. Sighing, I said: "Check through her memos first. Maybe there's something there." Alice nodded and began clicking away, going through Bella's menu and finding the memos. Looking over Alice's shoulder, my eyes darted to the small screen. Bella was quite organized, even on her phone. All of her memos were organized by date and by importance. If it was extremely important, she'd place a few stars beside the title and get into the memo itself. But looking at this, there didn't seem to be anything useful. "There's nothing there that can help us."

"What about her calls? If she made any, maybe it would give us an indication of what she's been doing," Alice said, making me nod. She flipped through the cursors on the phone and found the calls area. "Hm... she hasn't made many calls but she's received many."

"But look, if she's received a lot of calls from the same 'Unknown', who do you think it is?" I asked, looking Alice in the eyes. She shrugged and flipped through the phone some more. Who was this 'Unknown' person calling Bella continuously?

Alice flipped through the menu and found Bella's text messages. And what we found made both of our eyes widen in horror. Bella had received many text messages from this 'Unknown' character. "Whoa..." I whispered in disbelief. She'd received more than several text messages from them. Looking at Alice, she looked slightly frightened about this new turn of events. "Do you think we should...?"

"I think so. I mean, we need to know who this 'Unknown' person is, if he or she is bad or not. By the looks of it, it doesn't look good..." Alice said sadly before turning her attention back to the small screen. My sister began pushing the cursors to go to the top of the messages and opened the first one. My eyes widened at its words.

"'_You will do as I say or your family will die._' Already this doesn't sound good," Alice whispered in shock.

"She got this the day of the play... No wonder she seemed freaked when we tried and talked to her! Even the next day, Bella looked like she hardly got any sleep."

"Anyone would be freaked by something like this..." Alice pressed the 'next' button and went to the next text message from this person. "'_You shouldn't ignore my warning. Something... bad might happen..._' That was the day you were admitted to the hospital." My mouth literally fell open. All the pieces were fitting in so far. My accident... I knew it wasn't normal! This person was threatening Bella. And it had worked. "What the hell's going on here?"

"What's the next one?"

She flipped through more buttons and came to the next text. "'_I warned you._' This person is the one who made you crash! What the hell does he want with Bella?"

"I don't know Ali. But wait a second... what's the time that she got that text?"

"It says... ten thirty-seven."

"That was right after she left the room..." Walking over to Bella's desk, I grabbed a piece of paper and pen and walked back to Alice. Sitting on Bella's bed, I handed Alice the paper and pen with a book for her to write on top and handed me the phone. Something didn't seem right... "Hold on a second. Alright, I'm going to give you the date and time of each text and we'll look at what time Bella received those calls from this person. Can you do that?" Alice nodded and began writing the times and dates of the first three text messages Bella received. "Alright, so the first one, we were at the play then so she probably got it when we came back. Bella wasn't afraid when we were there. She had nerves but wasn't panicking."

"And the other two were in the same day. One in the morning and one when we were at the hospital." Alice made a face, obviously showing that she was thinking.

"What are you thinking Alice?"

"Remember what Bella said when we asked where she was? She said she called Angela to get notes. But... did she really?" Alice asked, making a lot of sense. Bella could have called or received a call from this person. "Check her phone calls. Did she make a call to Angela while we were at the hospital that day?"

Looking through, there wasn't one phone call that was addressed to Angela. I knew something was up when she came back to the room! Bella was acting weirdly, even for her... "She didn't make any calls to Angela."

"What about any calls from Angela?"

Looking through, there wasn't any from Angela. But... "She's received a call from M. Unknown a few seconds after receiving that third text," I said, looking down at the phone. What could he have said to her...? Was there any way that we could know? There had to be. "This phone call lasted quite a while."

"Anything else that comes in close to the time of the call?" Alice asked, fiddling with the pen nervously. Looking through once more, there wasn't another phone call made that day. So I went back to the menu and went in the text messages. Her fourth message made my blood turn cold and my eyes widen. "What? What's the matter Rosalie?"

"Remember when you said that Bella had been acting weird since the hospital event?" She nodded and looked at me confusedly and worriedly. "Well, I know why... Check this out. '_Good job on keeping this a secret. Your first part is done. Now, how about we play with your little sister Alice?_'" Looking up at Alice, she seemed to have frozen as well. Considering this concerned her more than us, it wasn't a surprise that she would be shocked. But I continued reading anyways. "'_After school, you will receive a message from me. Answer it or I will dispose of your other sister for you._'" Looking back at Alice, she was now looking away from me, closing her eyes slowly.

"At least we know why Bella framed me... God, I can't believe I was such a bitch to her! And it wasn't even her fault... I should have known that she'd never do that to me. Or to anyone. God..." She placed her head in her hands and wanted to sob but I stopped her.

"Alice, we don't have time to waste. You need to stop this. This was not your fault. You didn't know any better. Now you do," I said, watching her remove her face from her palms. Her eyes were a little red, seeing as she wanted to cry but she kept it in right now. Sniffing and clearing her throat, she nodded and looked at the paper with our clues so far. "Alright, here's another one a few hours later. '_Well, my little Bella,_'" I seriously wanted to rip his throat out for playing with my sister... "'_it seems as though we're going to have a little fun together. You'll be happy to know that I changed my mind. We'll put your sister aside for the moment and try something different. You're going to grab all of your technology for music and throw it in the garbage. That means your fancy laptop, piano, guitar, EVERYTHING. Understand?_'"

He was sick. This man or woman—frankly, to me, it sounded more like a man. No woman would be toying with Bella this way—broke Bella's dream and made her give it all up. Luckily we saved everything but it was still the action that made her give it up... "This was when she threw everything out. I was visiting you at the hospital at the time."

"Yeah, and Mom called and explained everything to us. Well, at least now we're putting the puzzles together."

"Good thing we watch a lot of CSI." Rolling my eyes at my sister, I checked the next text and it seemed as though Bella was forced to reply back to save our lives. I'd have to thank her later, if she ever came home. Alice looked down at the screen and saw the same thing I did. Looking in her sent box, there was a message saying '_I understand_'. She probably couldn't say much else. "I really want to kill this person..."

"Don't worry Alice, so do I. We'll find him if it's the last thing we do," I said before going back to the text he sent her afterwards and felt disgusted. He was always watching her every move, making sure she didn't screw anything up. He was definitely sick and twisted. There was another message written shortly after Bella threw her things away. "Here's another one not long after the last one. '_Well done Bella. I didn't think you could do it. You'll receive a message tomorrow explaining your next assignment. And this one will include your little sister._' So this was the day before she trashed the principal's office."

"She's gone through all of this alone... No wonder she wouldn't come out of her room for anything, not even for Edward," Alice said sadly.

"She couldn't tell anyone. Have you been listening to these? He was watching her every move. If she even _tried_ to tell us, something bad would have happened to Bella or to us. So she was forced to act against us in order to protect us from him," I replied, looking back down to the cell phone.

"How do you know it's a him?" Alice asked.

"Oh come on, no woman would be treating her this way. Remember how Charlie treated her? It's nearly the same thing. No way a woman would be doing this. It doesn't seem... logical," I replied while continuing to go through the text messages. There were several of them and we were more than halfway done. "Here's another one but the next day, right before you guys left for school. '_Very well done. I didn't think you could keep this a secret for so long. But you're going to have to, unless you want your family to die._'"

"Of course Bella would keep this stupid and harmful secret. She'd never let her family get hurt..." Alice said, interrupting me Eyeing her, she became quiet again and I was able to continue reading these foul messages.

"'_Now, we're going to have a little with your little 'sister'. Today during lunch, you'll slip into the principal's office and destroy everything without making a sound. Then, when you've done that, you'll steal the priceless engraved locket that his daughter gave him on his desk and place it in Alice's purse. Place her student card in the damage and your job will be done. The spare key to the principal's office is in your locker. Now, get to work and don't mess up. We wouldn't want anything to happen, now would we?'_ Well, at least we know that he forced her to frame you," I replied, looking back at my sister. We were getting close to see if Bella actually broke up with Edward or she was forced to.

"I should have known that she would never do anything like this. Bella's a good girl. And a good sister." She looked back at her hand and I'm guessing she was remembering when she slapped Bella today. Alice kept blaming herself. "I can't believe how badly I treated her since then..."

"Ali, you _have_ to stop blaming yourself. This wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was! She felt even lonelier because of me!"

"How do you know that?"

"Everything I've told her, it was because then, I believed that she was to blame for everything that was happening. And today, I _slapped_ her because I thought she didn't care! I'm a horrible sister to her! And where the hell is she?" She nearly screamed, making me place my free hand against her cheek and make her look at me.

"Listen to me Alice. This is _not_ your fault. We were sucked into this sick and cruel man's game and rejected Bella because he was using her. We were clueless then. There was nothing that we could have done. Now, we need to focus on the future and help Bella now as much as we can. Do you understand Alice? You are not to blame. This man is," I said, making her look at me with sadness but Alice understood what I was saying. She knew I was speaking the truth. There was nothing we could have done in the past but we need to make up to Bella now in the future for what we did in the past. "Believe me Alice. Please."

"I... I believe you Rose," She said and brought me in a soft embrace to avoid hurting my arm. Luckily, it was healing quickly and I would be able to take the sling off soon. But not right now. "Let's get back to business. What's the next text say? Did she receive anymore calls from him?"

"Not that day. But she received a text at the end of the day from M. Unknown. It says: '_Very well done. I'll give you the weekend to prepare but on Monday, I want you to break up with your boyfriend._'" My eyes widened in shock. It was true. Bella would _never_ break up with Edward intentionally. This mystery guy—or very unlikely girl—had forced her to break up with Edward to save us all. God... I can't believe this person. "So you were right. Bella would never break up with Edward without a reason and we just found this reason."

"God... we need to show this to Edward. He has to know that Bella would never do this to him without a reason," Alice said urgently. It was true. Edward did need to see this. But we needed to know about who this person was. And Bella would have to be at the house as well. "Rose, he's doing there heartbroken because he believes that she doesn't love him anymore! We have to prove him wrong!"

"I know Alice. But we need more proof than this. Who is this person sending all of these texts? Who is this Unknown? We need to figure this out before anything. If we show him like this, it might look like Bella forged these."

"But she wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, we know that but Edward doesn't. Or is denying that fact right now."

"Yeah, more like denying..."

"Alice."

"What? I'm trying to help my brother and my sister and all this waiting is killing them both," Alice said exasperated. She really wanted to make Edward believe that this was this mystery guy's doing and not Bella's. Maybe she was right. It might be best to show him what we have.

"Alright, we'll go show him after we—wait a second."

"What? What is it?" Alice asked worriedly, leaning in towards me.

"There's an unread text message. Write that she received a phone call from Unknown before she broke up with Edward and before Mom was attacked. But this one, it's been unread and it's after Mom was admitted today." Looking back at the small screen of the phone, my eyes bulged at the next few words. This couldn't be happening...

**From: Unknown**

**To: Bella**

**First is your 'mother'. Next, I'm coming for you.**

"Oh no..." I whispered, unable to comprehend this. He was coming after Bella. We had to stop him! We had to protect Bella! She can't be used by him any longer! "We've got to get Edward." And with that, I jumped off the bed, cell phone in hand, and ran down the stairs and found Edward in the living room, watching TV mindlessly.

His eyes went towards me as Alice followed close behind me. She had the notepad in hand with all the clues we had discovered in the past... two hours? It took us that long to figure all of this out? Wow... Looking at Edward, he seemed lifeless and confused. "What is it Rosalie?"

"Edward, you have to look at these. They involve—" My sentence was interrupted when my own cell phone rang. Damn it! This was so a bad time! Looking at my phone, it was Emmett. It felt wrong to hang up on him without talking to him so I opened my phone, turned around slightly so that my sides were facing Edward and talked in the phone with a little annoyed tone. "Emmett, this isn't really a good time. Can I call you—"

"_Rosalie, you need to come down to the police station._" His voice bothered me to no end. There was no humour or happiness in his voice. Only... sadness. What happened?

"Emmett, what's going on? Why are you telling me this?" I asked, my own voice extremely confused and questioning. For a while he didn't respond and my fear kicked in even more. "Emmett, tell me right now. What happened?"

"_Jasper called me a few minutes ago with some bad news._" Oh no... Bad news, these days, really wasn't great. What on earth was going on...? "_He found Bella's truck while driving towards the grocery store. It was totalled and the inside was bloody._" My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. No... not this. "_Bella wasn't in her car. There was also a message in blood._" I closed my eyes, not wanting to hear this. "_It said 'Game over Cullens_'." His voice drifted off and the other line became silent. He hadn't hung up but couldn't speak anymore.

We were too late. He had gotten to her already.

"I... We'll be right there..." I said lifelessly, hanging up the phone and letting my arm hang limply to my side. No... Edward sensed my distress, stood up and looked at me worried. Alice clung to my now limp arm and shook it ever so gently.

"Rosalie, what did Emmett say?" Alice asked, her voice rising slightly in worry.

"Rosalie?" Edward asked, placing a soft hand on my back. I was just motionless. Bella was gone. Probably badly hurt and we didn't know about it. And it was mostly possible that this Unknown person took her. "Rosalie, what happened?"

"We need to go to the police station..." My voice was still lifeless and the others noticed the change from before.

"Why? Rosalie, what did Emmett tell you?" Edward asked, turning me around softly and placing soft hands on my shoulders, staring me down.

"Bella's truck was found totalled and bloody... and she wasn't in it."

**Alright so what did you all think? Good? Bad? Not worth reading? Let me know in some reviews please.**

**Bellacullenswan17**

13


	12. Her blood and truck

**Alright so here's a chapter for you all. Now I have a little note to say before any of you even start reading this… unrealistic story, as some of you put it. Now I don't care what you all think about how bad this story it is. Because you know what? With the amount of times you guys have pointed it out, I know that it is a bad story, some of you could say the worst one I wrote as of yet (apart from Hell Hath No Love). But you know what? Comment on it all you want but I will only accept POSITIVE reviews from now on. You want to post a bad review? Send me a freakin' PM about it. Nothing more. And I will keep on writing chapters for this unrealistic story and if none of you want to review it, then it's fine. But I will only accept positive reviews from now on. I do not accept the fact that people keep dissing my work when all I do is try to please others when updating. So now, you might as well read and review for this unrealistic chapter.**

**Disclaimer = I do not own Twilight.**

Chapter 11

Her blood and truck

**Edward's Point of View**

"What?" Alice exclaimed, unable to comprehend this. And neither could I. My blood froze in my system and my eyes widened in horror. Bella... She might have broken up with me but I still cared immensely for her. Nothing would change that. Although it still felt strange that, after all this time and passion between us, she just leaves me like this… This wasn't like her at all. But I couldn't blame her decisions… Maybe there was a deeper meaning to it. "What do you mean she wasn't in it? Where the hell is she then?"

"I don't know… But Emmett says we need to get to the police station. They probably want to ask the family a few questions…" Rosalie explained, her voice now turning melancholic.

"Then what are we waiting for? We can't just stand around here and do nothing while Bella's God knows where," Alice said, grabbing her jacket and heading towards the car. We both knew that Alice was acting this way because of either her sisterly connection with Bella or something else but neither Rosalie nor I argued as we both got our coats and got in the car, driving towards the police station.

The ride was painfully silent. No one dared to say a word, let alone take a breath in. What could have happened to Bella…? How could her truck have been found bloody and her not in it? Things weren't right around Forks… And it seemed as though Bella was in the middle of all of this. But what was her part in it? And why? Alice and Rosalie had been trying to tell me something before but Emmett had interrupted her while she was trying to explain it to me. Maybe now was the best time to ask her, even just to break this awful silence.

"Rosalie, you were trying to tell me something. What was it?" I asked, seeing that we were close to the police station. Alice looked up and looked back at Rosalie in the back seat. It seemed as though their spirits lifted a little at the sound of this.

"Right. Edward, Bella didn't break up with you out of her own free will." Oh no… I knew where this was going and it wasn't pretty.

Sighing, I said: "Rosalie—" but she cut me off.

"Listen Edward, you _know_ that Bella loves you more than anything. She's proved it to you and we can all see it. Now don't you think it's a little odd that she suddenly breaks up with you, saying that she doesn't want you anymore?" Rosalie asked, leaning towards my seat. My expression fell and my mind kept repeating Bella's heart-breaking words. Why did she have to do this anyways…? What had I done that was so cruel that she had to break up with me? We could have worked this out with time.

But… maybe Rosalie was right. I mean, every time I locked eyes with Bella, all that my eyes could detect was love and passion for me. It was even there when she broke up with me, mixed with undeniable regret. I might have noticed it just now—I was too hurt to notice before—but it was still there. She didn't want to break up with me.

Then what was going on…?

"Even if it was odd Rose, it still happened. I mean… Tanya's been a good help through all of this and—"

"Don't tell me that you're thinking of letting _Tanya_ 'help' you through this! You're going to choose Tanya over Bella now just because she did something that she was forced to?" Alice exclaimed, both girls eyeing me from different angles. Tanya had been helpful… in her own way… but she'd been after me for many months now, ever since I'd arrived to Forks High. But she wasn't Bella. "Edward you _know_ that she's only trying to get to you because Bella doesn't have you anymore! She won't love you like Bella can and you would never love Tanya like you love Bella."

"Alice, I really don't think that this is something that we need to talk about," I said, parking in the Forks Police Station and moving my arm towards the door handle but Alice stopped me by grabbing my other arm and turning me around to face her. "Alice…"

"Edward, don't tell me that you like having Tanya Denali hanging around you like a lost puppy. Who would you rather have by your side: Bella or Tanya?" Alice asked, looking me directly in the eyes. My heart tore at her words because there was no one that I wanted more than Bella Swan beside me.

"You know the answer to that…" was my only answer, looking away from her. "But it doesn't matter now Al—"

"It _does_ matter Edward. Because if you would listen to a word that we've been saying, we have proof that Bella was being forced to break up with you and destroy each and every one of us," Alice explained, looking at Rosalie once and then focusing on me. What did she mean, she had proof? Did Bella really want to stay with me? Or would my heart be breaking again soon? "Edward, please hear us out…"

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes slowly, trying to figure all this out. It seemed all too confusing. What was Bella's part in all of this? That question seemed to run through my mind—maybe everyone's mind—a lot these days. But there was too much going on. "Ok, I'll listen after we get in the police station. I want to know what they found first… Then I'll look at what you guys found, if it's anything good. Alright?"

Alice didn't seem too pleased about this compromise but she nodded and got out of the car with Rosalie. My heart started to pound slightly as we walked towards the entrance to the station. What would we find in there…? Maybe a stricken Emmett—which would be a shocking scene to witness—and a quite frightened looking Jasper but otherwise, would we see Bella's truck and all of her blood? What if she was hurt…? Was it really her blood? This all seemed to be a horrible nightmare, that I would wake up and Bella would be next to me, smiling and kissing me passionately as she used to.

Walking into the police station, my suspicions had proved to be true. Emmett was leaning against the wall, arms wrapped around his body to try and keep himself together in this situation. Jasper was pacing around, somewhat annoying the police officers as they tried to work. But when Jasper saw us enter, Alice ran right up to him, wrapped her tiny arms around his waist and held him tightly. And he did the same, placing his cheek against the top of her head.

"Are you alright Jazz?" Alice asked, turning her head to the side so her cheek could lie against his chest.

"I'll be fine…" Jasper responded, turning his attention to look at me for a few seconds and then focus his attention back on Alice. Rosalie walked over to Emmett and he placed his arms around her, being careful about her arm. "I'm glad you're all here though…"

"Where did you find the truck?" I asked, walking over to Jasper and Alice, hoping to get something more out of him.

"Close to the hospital… It couldn't have been five, maybe ten minutes away. It was… Um… on a deserted road, going towards your house," Jasper explained, holding Alice to his side now, one arm around her shoulders and looking at me. Jasper still seemed shaken up—I couldn't blame him, not with what he apparently saw—but he seemed to calm down when close to my sister. At least she was a good influence on him. "There was a bit of blood on the driver's seat and the wheel… It's easy to distinguish when she's got a white steering wheel. I… I called the police the minute that I saw that she wasn't in it. It freaked the living daylight out of me… I… I didn't know what else to do," Jasper said, looking away a little and running his fingers through his hair, trying very hard to stay neutral.

"It's alright Jazz; you did everything you could," Alice said, stroking his stomach with her left hand, looking up at him.

"Maybe if I'd gotten there sooner and went to the hospital sooner, then maybe I could have stopped that accident…" Jasper said, putting his hand over his eyes. Alice stroked his chest softly and tried to calm him as a police officer came up to me.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but are you a friend or sibling of Bella Swan?" The officer asked, eyeing me mostly.

Nodding, I said: "Yeah, I'm a… I mean, we were close…" My voice broke when saying this but it was meant to be said. Bella and I weren't a couple anymore. Although my heart still went out to her, the deed was done and our relationship was no more… "Quite close…"

"I'm so sorry to hear that. And it must be dread for your parents to hear of this situation," The officer stated, looking at me sympathetically.

"Actually, they don't know yet. We kind of rushed over here and didn't tell them. My mother's in the hospital at the moment and so my father decided to stay with her. It would be best not to interrupt them yet with this…" Rosalie explained from afar.

The officer nodded to Rosalie and looked back at me. "Forgive my manners. I'm Officer Eliza Warren and I'll be handling this case. After your friend called us in, we brought the truck here and began examining it. In fact, it was Bella's blood we found in the car. It was an exact DNA match to the database. But the fact that she wasn't in the car, that's what's troubling us. We found a few tire prints in the dirt near her truck and we're trying to find a match at the moment but it'll take a while. If… if you think you can withstand it, maybe you can tell us if you find anything unusual about her accident." Nodding sheepishly, Officer Warren went to her desk and retrieved a few pictures and came back over to us. She held the pictures in her hand, simply looking at me for a few minutes before speaking again. "I can understand if this would prove to be difficult to bear but… we must know. I'm terribly sorry."

"I… I understand." My voice shook a little but Officer Warren handed me the pictures and they shocked me and made a little gasp of shock leave my lips.

Her hood of her truck was deeply crushed, the tree nearly buried deep until it hit the windshield. Glass from the windshield was shattered and lying around the broken hood and the grass floor. The driver's door was opened and bent, almost as if the door was also hit on impact and opened afterwards. But what shocked us even more was the blood on the seat and the steering wheel. Such a vibrant colour against the beige of the wheel… My Bella's blood was there, vibrant as the paint colour. Was this caused because of some reckless driving? Maybe the fact that my mother was in the hospital had made her hysterical and she had gotten behind the wheel to drive home and landed in this accident. But… she was such a careful driver. I'd seen her driving. She'd never get in an accident. Unless someone had hit her and made her swerve, which didn't seem very likely, she would never get in an accident.

"Was there another driver hurt in this accident?"

"No, it was just her I'm afraid," Officer Warren explained, confirming my suspicions. Bella wouldn't intentionally get in an accident. And the fact that she wasn't in the car, that made me even more worried. What had happened to her…? And would I ever see her again? "Do you see anything odd about the pictures?" Shaking my head, I gave her back the pictures, unable to look at my love's blood any longer and she nodded once. "I can assure you that we are doing the best we can in finding her. We'll keep you posted if we get any new information," The officer explained, letting me nod and walk towards the entrance, unable to contain my sadness anymore.

It was bad enough that Jasper and Emmett were shaken up because of this, along with Alice and Rose, but to let them see me this way would make things just… too much. To see my beautiful Bella's truck trashed and bloody… I could imagine Bella hitting that tree, her blood spilling over the seat and her poor frail body getting injured. Of course, my mind portrayed the worst that could have happened to her but the point of imagining her accident… I couldn't do it. It was too much. She might have broken my heart in leaving me but this… My heart just reached out for her more.

Alice and Rosalie walked out of the police station just moments after I did and walked over to me. "Edward…?" Rosalie asked softly, looking at me intently.

"Sorry… I… I'll be fine..." was my only response.

"You still care for her…" Alice said, placing a soft hand on my arm, which I had crossed with my other arm over my chest when walking out of the building.

"Of course I do! I gave her my heart and she might have stomped on it like it meant nothing but I still care deeply for her!" I exclaimed, closing my eyes and turning my head away from them, trying hard not to show the hurt and sadness that my features must be expressing at the moment.

"Then let us show you what we found… This isn't just a natural accident Edward. Someone took her," Alice explained, her tone still soft as she rubbed soft and soothing circles on my arm, trying to reassure me. "And I think that someone has been after her since the play at school."

That caught my attention. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"Let's go somewhere a little more private Edward and we'll show you what we mean," Rosalie explained while taking one of my hands gently and walking me to the car, entering and handing me Bella's cell phone.

What answers would lie in this little device? And would it lead me to my Bella?

**Bella's Point of View**

My head pounded as the blackness faded slowly and my eyes opened slowly to reveal a dark room, only lit by a light above my head. Turning my head slowly around, pain shot through me. Why was there so much pain? All I could remember was running out of the hospital, getting in my car and driving away, crying. But then, very slowly, the crash began playing in my mind once more, letting me remember what happened, who took me. I hadn't seen the face of my kidnapper but I knew it was a man. No woman had this rough of a voice.

While trying to move my hands, my body protested. But what surprised me was that my hands didn't move whatsoever. They were bound with something like rope. It was sturdy, making me unable to move my hands free. But so were my feet. They were bound to the legs of the chair, making my movements feeble.

"Try as you might, there's no where to run now, my little Bella." The familiar voice sent chills down my spine as a figure erupted from the darkness. And the features of the man scared me even more.

He was a muscular but average-looking man, nothing really remarkable about his face or the features of his body. His light brown hair was cropped short, making his burgundy eyes seem darker in this darkness. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a pale blue shirt but they both seemed tattered with wear. His dark heavy boots made his look even more frightening. If he had been able to get to my family and frightened me to no end, who knows what he could do with a simple pair of working boots.

"You…" was my only reply as he approached me, looking down at my tied down body on the chair. A sadistic smile formed its way to my face and it sent even more chills down my spine.

"Well, aren't you clever my little puppet," He said, running a finger under my chin, making me shudder horribly. How could one man be so cruel to someone? He laughed and lifted my chin with two fingers, making me look at him. "You did quite beautifully, I might add. The fact that you were someone they trusted made them hate you even more in the end, didn't it? To the point of your own 'sister' slapping you because you knew that she was dying because of you."

"You made me do this!" With that, he smacked me across the face, making my head snap to the left. He forcefully grabbed my chin and turned my head harshly back to face him, making me look in his eyes. My head hurt even more now because of his hit and I could feel a trickle of blood run down my forehead.

"I might have given you a little threat or two but it was all you. You did everything that you were told to do, like a frightened little lost puppy. Just like you were all those years ago…" Wait, what? All those years ago? When had he seen me before? How did he know me? "Ah yes, you're wondering about what I'm talking about. I can see it in your eyes. The questions that roam through your eyes are filled with fear and horror, which is quite amusing, if I say so myself. Which makes me want to tell you even more, considering that you won't be going anywhere to tattle on your friends, which you don't seem to have anymore," He explained, his sadistic smile growing and his voice becoming a whisper as he spoke, making my blood run cold.

"Nearly seven years ago, after your wretch of a mother—"

"Don't you DARE say anything against my mother!" I exclaimed, venom coating each and every word. But for that, he punched me squarely in the stomach; knocking the breath out of me and making me cough violently, head bent. But this man grabbed my chin again and forced me to look at him. Why couldn't I get a break from all of these beatings…?

"As I was saying before you _rudely_ interrupted me, after your wretch of a mother died, your father had invited his old friend over for a drink. He didn't have many friends but the ones he did have, he hung close to them after his horrible wife died. But then a little girl, hugging her little teddy bear close to her chest, came down the stairs, looking frightened and a little beaten up. That's when I saw you," He explained and then, the light went on in my mind and memories of when I was nine years old came back to my mind.

A man with light brown cropped hair… Dark sadistic eyes… Rough hands as he pinched my small cheeks like an aunt would and smiled one of those sadistic smirks at me… His tormenting voice… The way my father would simply stand there and laugh as this man would slap my face softly at first but then would become rougher and rougher with time.

A small gasp of shock escaped my lips when looking at him. His smirk became larger as realization hit me. "James."

**Please review.**

**Bellacullenswan17**


	13. James and the boy

**Ok so at first I was thinking of putting this chapter into two POVs but I figured you had waited long enough for a chapter so here it is. Hope you like it. So READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 12

James and the boy

**Bella's Point of View**

A large smirk played on his face as he stared directly in my eyes. "So now you remember me. Took you too long if you ask me, my little puppet," James explained, tightening his grip on my chin painfully. Why was this man after me now? What had I done to him that was so terrible that he wanted to torture me this way? And hurt the family I loved in the process? That wasn't right… The only family—beside my mother—that ever cared for me... all gone because of this one man.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, gritting my teeth in pain as he kept his pressure on my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Why, just to keep you for my own personal amusement, of course," James explained, that sadistic smirk still on his face. That smile made my blood run cold and chills run down my spine. Only one man has ever done that to me: my father. "To have the possibility to ruin your life was fun but to be hired to make your life a living hell and destroy you, then that was simply the icing on the cake." Wait, someone _hired _him? Who would do that? "And honestly, this is the most fun I've had in quite some time. You're such an easy prey… so easy to fool. And I—"

"Who the hell hired you?" I screeched, forcing him to let go of my chin, but he slapped me hard, making my head snap to the side. My head pounded even more as he slapped me. The head wounds I received in the car accident opened up and started bleeding once more, slowly trickling down my forehead. James once more grabbed my chin and made me look at him.

"You will _not_ interrupt me in my own house. Did no one teach you manners?" His smirk returned to his face and he continued to speak. "I do owe your father this much, he quite loves to make your life miserable. And he wants oh so badly to see you dead that it will be my pleasure to grant him this as he rots in jail because of you. Charlie was quite a good friend and you had to put him away, didn't you?" James answered angrily as he let go of my chin long enough to grab my hair and pull it back painfully, making me whimper. But that small whimper ended up getting me a punch in the stomach. "You're such a monster, putting your own father away in jail."

"You're… one to talk…" I answered painfully, my breath coming in ragged pants while looking him directly in the eyes. He let go of my hair, stepped back and smirked a little before sending a right hook directly into my jaw, making me taste some blood in my mouth.

Coughing up a little blood, he crossed his arms and watched me in amusement. "Thank you for the compliment but you will speak only when spoken to. From now on, you'll speak only when I give you the order to, just like when you were following my orders on the phone, do you understand?" James requested, never breaking eye contact with him.

"What…? Like your slave…?"

"Yes, until I decided that you are better off dead than alive, which is very tempting at the moment. You are such an insolent pest that I am very tempted to kill you off painfully. But unfortunately, my love wouldn't be very happy if I killed you now," James explained, pacing ever so slightly back and forth in front of me.

"Who's your love…? Your ego…?" I answered, trying very hard to be strong and not give him what he wants, which would be my desperate cries and pleas for him to return me to a family that might not ever want me again. He wants to break me. But he won't. Not while I'm still breathing.

Unfortunately, my little act of bravery infuriated him even more, which resulted in another slap across the face, this time making me see spots.

"I repeat… Insolent. Little. Pest," He said, emphasizing every word he spoke. Stars began to swim in the black spots in my vision and it made me very hard to stay conscious. If James continued to hit me as if I was a mere punching bag, unconsciousness would win me over. "You have such little tolerance for pain, whether it's physical or emotional. Best take you to your room before you end up fainting in front of me and my fun would be over before it even started, which I just can't have," James said before lifting me by my upper right arm, making my body ache in pain from the car accident, and throwing me across the room as if I weighed nothing, making the chair break behind my back. A scream escaped my lips when hitting the cement wall and my fear grew as James approached, leaving the light behind him and concealing himself in darkness. Grabbing the collar of my shirt, he began dragging me across the floor and up the stairs, keeping me bound as the pieces of the chair slid from under me. "Pipe down. You're starting to really give me a headache. And I'm not very nice when people annoy me to the point of getting a headache."

He sounded so much like my father… No wonder they were friends. Two criminals stuck together until the end, right?

James dragged me up stairs, through corridors and finally came to a wooden door. Looking around through the blurriness and the pain, my mind detected that we were in a cabin. And it seemed to be a large one at that. A few windows decorated the cabin but they were all barred from the outside, meaning no possible way to escape from those. There could be the front or the back door but who knows what James would do if I tried to escape. He would probably kill me the instant I tried to do anything… which means that there wasn't many means of escape… Just great.

My kidnapper opened the door and threw me inside, making me land on the floor painfully. Almost curling in on myself, James walked into the room and placed a metal collar around my neck, locking it with a key. What had he put around my neck? The coldness of the metal brought chills to my body as he stepped back and began speaking again. But not to me. Someone else. "Make sure she's presentable for supper. I want her to cook something and I want it not to be disgusting."

"But—" A young boy began saying but James was already gone, leaving me to turn my head and look at the man sitting on the bed, watching me sadly.

The young boy—he couldn't be more than seventeen years old, maybe a little younger—was sort of beautiful… He might have been sitting but I could tell that he was a good six feet something. His raven-black short hair was dishevelled, as if he had a rough night. And he was quite well built. His face held such a childish roundedness to it, especially in his chin, which made him look younger. But his russet skin held a few bruises, meaning that James was probably beating him as well. And sadly, those deep-set twinkling dark brown eyes looked so filled with pain when he looked at me that it nearly broke my heart—well, what was left of my broken heart to break anyways. But those eyes also made him look mature.

"Who are you…?" I asked in a weak voice, hating myself for sounding this way. But then again, who could blame me, after everything that James just dealt to me?

Trying to move brought enormous pain to my body and the boy stood up, crossing the short distance between us and kneeled by me, starting to undo the ropes around my wrists. "Don't try to move so much. It'll only open your wounds even more," He said as he removed the ropes from around my ankles as well, letting me move a little. My limbs felt very heavy and in a lot of pain but that must have been from the accident. James's beating wouldn't bring on such numbness.

The boy got a first aid kit and began swabbing at my cuts and gashes, trying to stop the bleeding. "I asked you… a question…" I answered, trying to get a name out of him or even some sort of identity. He wasn't someone I knew since his face or his body didn't ring a bell in my mind.

"Sorry, I figured your wounds could be treated before we start giving out names," The boy responded, keeping pressure on the wounds until they stopped bleeding. He wrapped a bit of gauze around my head and looked down at me, seeming to have the same—but smaller—metal collar around his wrist that I had around my neck. What exactly was that all of this about anyways? All of this seemed too unreal… Just like it was some sort of dream that I needed to wake up from. "My name is Jacob, Jacob Black."

"Nice… to meet you… Jacob… I'm Bella… Sorry we have… to meet under these… circumstances…" I said shakily, trying hard to speak through my broken ribs. Jacob didn't seem to mind the fact that he had to start tapping them and he was quite gentle with his hands.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm getting used to it by now," Jacob said, keeping his gaze on my wounds, as if looking at me in my condition at the moment seemed… inappropriate, which I didn't mind at the moment.

"What… do you mean…?" I asked, feeling that my breathing was becoming shallow now.

"He brings girls like you all the time, nearly once every few months. Sometimes, he'll bring them once a month and then… well, let's just say that he has me around to take care of them and their wounds while he's occupied with his new girlfriend." Looking at him with sceptic eyes, he looked up at me for a few seconds and went back to trying to fix my wounds as best as he could. "Don't worry; I never do anything to them. I just fix their wounds and lend them my bed from time to time so they have somewhere to sleep. James just gives them that hay over there to sleep on," Jacob said, nudging over to the stack of hay in the corner of the room then looking back at my taped sides. "Not very comfortable if you ask me."

"You've… been here… a while…?" I asked, feeling a little better now that my wounds were being tended to.

"A few years, yeah… The girls he brought in gave me some company but it never lasted very long… I want out of here but I'm stuck here like all the girls he brings here. It's sick but I can't escape. He won't let me leave… Can't believe I'm related to him…" Jacob said, making my eyes widen a bit in tiredness.

"You're… what…?"

"I guess I should have started with that but… I didn't know what you'd say. It's not something that I like to say to the girls he brings here but I really have no choice but to try and be as nice as I can around him, since I don't want to get a beating or worse. He gets quite angry when he doesn't get his way or when people disobey him." _I really do wish he'd get to the point,_ I thought as he kept on rambling, trying to prolong the truth even more. Jacob sighed and looked me square in the eyes before saying: "James is, quite unfortunately, my uncle."

**So what did you guys think? I had to put in some drama, otherwise this chapter would have been a little boring in the end. So let me know what you guys thought in some REVIEWS please!**

**Bellacullenswan17**

7


	14. Unwanted news

**Ok so I know that it has been a really long time since I updated but I finally got some inspiration for this story. I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter so it depressed me a little. But now I'm back and this story is, hopefully, gonna be great. So please READ AND REVIEW! **

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 13

Unwanted news

**Edward's Point of View**

Alice and Rosalie were dragging me to the car, holding Bella's phone in Alice's small hand as Rosalie leaned against the car door, trying to remain calm. But I felt empty, dead. Thinking that Bella had been taken made me feel even deader than before. It was as if everything that was happening to her was happening to me. I could feel pain in my body, my mind and deep in my soul, knowing that the one girl that I loved was taken.

And to think that that person… that man who had taken her—apparently it was a man, according to Alice and Rosalie by deduction as we had walked to the car—was the cause of all of this. He would pay at my hands the minute that I'd find him.

Of course I was a little reluctant to be shown this but it had to be done. If there was any way of knowing where Bella was, then we had to get to the bottom of this. If she still wanted me, then I would find her and bring her home where she belonged… with us, with her family; but more importantly with me.

Alice and Rosalie looked at me and my little sister handed me the phone, letting me look at its closed form for a few lingering seconds before looking at them slowly. "He's manipulated her since day one… ever since the play," Rosalie informed me as I flipped the phone open and was afraid to know what would await me. "She really didn't want us to worry. Bella would have rather have us hate her than to have us in danger. Typical her…"

"In the end… some of us did hate her. I mean, I…" Alice trailed off, looking away sadly and looking down at her hand. What had she done to my Bella?

"Alice, what did you do?" I asked, my voice shaking from everything that they were telling me. Was this all true? Or were they simply playing a ruse on me, trying to make me believe that Bella still has feelings when she obviously doesn't anymore? Alice didn't seem to want to answer at the moment but she had to tell me. "Alice, what. Did. You. Do?"

"I slapped and insulted her, alright? I said that she wasn't my sister and the moment that I wanted to apologize, mom gets shot and she just stood there and I slapped her out of anger! I didn't know what was happening with her but my anger boiled out and my hand went up without intending to! I slapped her and I regret what I did to her alright? Now, all we want to do is find her and bring her home!" Alice exclaimed, tears glistening in her eyes before Rosalie wound her free arm around Alice's small frame and brought her in a tight embrace. You could see in Alice's eyes that she really did mean what she said: that she _was_ regretting the past events that happened between her and my beloved. "I'm sorry…" Alice kept repeating as Rosalie stroked Alice's short spiky hair with her good hand, trying to reassure her.

Sighing, my hand went out to Alice's shoulder and squeezed it softly and reassuringly. "It's alright Ali. I understand… somewhat. You didn't mean to do that and you can tell Bella that the minute that she's back and with you guys," I replied, stroking her shoulder from time to time.

"She'll be back with you as well. When we'll bring her back, she'll be under no one's control. Bella'll want to be with you again the minute that she can. We know her," Rosalie pointed out, looking at me now as she held Alice against her thin frame. Somehow, it was hard to accept that truth. What if Bella really didn't want to be with me? What if she wasn't acting out because someone was forcing her? Maybe it was that she never wanted to be close to me again… Had I done something to push her away? "Stop looking like that Edward. Bella wants you. Read the texts and you'll understand what we mean."

Rosalie reached into the car and pulled out a paper that had many numbers, times and information on it. It seemed related to the text messages that Rosalie and Alice had mentioned before. Reading it over, it said things such as 'before play' or even 'after Rosalie accident'. There were times beside each event. What exactly did all of this mean?

"Read the text messages and you'll understand," Alice said, sniffing once after saying this to me. Looking at them both, their faces were both serene as they looked down at the phone and the piece of paper. This phone was the only clue we had to Bella. But how would we be able to get to her? She'd been kidnapped… "Please Edward… Believe us."

Nodding slowly, I flipped Bella's phone open only to be attacked by sadness when gazing down at the picture of Bella and me as her background picture. The memory of taking this picture overpowered me and made me relive the day we had taken this…

_Bella and I had been sitting in the garden against a tree, her leaning her back against my front and my arms wrapped around her. It had been a few weeks after she had been adopted into my family and we were gazing in each other's happiness, finally enjoying our moments together. Bella had leaned her head back to look in my eyes and smiled up at me, which made me flash my crooked smile down at her in bliss. We had been happy back then… so, so happy._

"_I love you, did you know that?" Bella said, leaning the back of her head against the crook of my neck as my arms wound even more behind her. _

"_Yes love, in fact I did know that. And I love you just as much, maybe even more," I replied with a happy smile, kissing the top of her head and leaving my lips there for a few lingering seconds before looking down into her eyes again. I could simply melt in those chocolate brown eyes of her… They were so full of life. Now… those eyes haunted me. They made me relive the moment when Bella had broken up with me. It just kept running through my mind over and over again… "Have you used your new phone yet?" _

"_Not yet. I mean, I just text you guys a little bit and that's about it. I apparently have a camera in this thing but I haven't taken any pictures yet. I don't exactly know what to take…" Bella responded, taking her phone out and turning it in her hand softly, looking down at it while speaking. _

_Placing my hand on hers, I flipped it open and began using the menu buttons to get to the camera. Turning her phone around in her hand, I smiled down by her ear and whispered softly: "Then why doesn't your first picture be the two of us?" _

_Bella looked up to meet my eyes and giving me a smile before looked back at her phone. "I think that is a perfect idea," Bella said before turning her phone around and making the camera eye face us. Wrapping my arms around Bella and placing my chin on her shoulder, the corner of her lips curved into a smile as she placed her thumb against the camera button. "Say cheese!" My sweet beloved said before taking the picture and then turning her phone around to see what the picture looked like. And it was beautiful, just like my Bella. "It's perfect."_

"_Just like you, my love," I replied, kissing her neck softly and she leaned softly into my embrace, closing her eyes softly. _

_But it didn't stay that way for long. Bella turned around to face me and pushed me softly to the ground before she began kissing my lips softly but passionately._

Oh, so passionately… It felt right. Of course, we had never had sex since she came into my life but it was something that we were planning on doing later on in our relationship.

I suppose that now it would never happen now. She didn't want me… But… her eyes had held so much pain when she had broken up with me in the parking lot. Was this really all of her doing?

Shaking my head a little, I fumbled through the cursors until her text messages popped up at me. They were all from an Unknown caller. Reading through these, my eyes bulged out. These were all threats and orders… With the paper by my side, it also helped to understand when all of these were sent. They were all related to what had happened to this family. Rose's accident, Alice's exoneration, our breakup, Mom's nearly fatal wound… All of it. And the last one made my heart clench in horror. '_First is your 'mother'. Next, I'm coming for you._'

Alice and Rosalie were right. Bella had been used by this person and she'd probably been kidnapped by the same man.

"We told you that she would never intentionally break up with you," Alice said, making me look at her with fearful eyes. "Bella was crying in her room when we came back from school. She was just as heartbroken as you that she was forced to do that. You know Bella more than anyone. You know how much she loves you…"

As Alice spoke, the words that I had told Bella in the parking lot kept replaying in my mind. '_The moment you said to me that I shouldn't be near you, I didn't listen. But I should have. Maybe it would have saved me from this heartbreak now. My only regret was loving you, Bella Swan._' Those were the cruellest words I had ever said in my entire life, and they were said to the woman who had changed my life completely around. There was one sentence in particular that kept replaying in my mind…

_My only regret was loving you, Bella Swan._

How could I have said that to her…? I had been angry and heartbroken but Bella must have felt even worse, knowing that she was forced to do this to me, to all of us. All I wanted to do now was hold her in my arms and apologize over and over again for my actions, in hopes that she would forgive me.

"We need to hand this to the police," I said, looking down at Bella's phone in my pale hand. The fright of everything was making my skin turn pale. My beloved was in danger and we needed to save her. But how? "They can help us deal with this."

"They'll believe that these were framed. We can figure that out those texts on our own and then give it to them when we're done," Rosalie explained, taking the phone slowly from my hand.

"Rosalie, they're there for that. They need to know about these! It's Bella's life that we're talking about!" I exclaimed, shaking a little in fright, horror and anger. My anger wasn't directed at Rosalie or Alice. It was directed at the man who was holding my girl hostage and maybe torturing her. He had already tortured her mentally and emotionally but he might be hurting her physically now. "If we can save her, then we have to do everything possible!"

"We know Edward. And we have an idea of who we can talk to about this. You've trusted us this far, Edward. Please trust us now," Rosalie said, looking me directly in the eyes. They were asking me to hold this a secret until they could figure this out. But… it was Bella's life that they were playing with. My love was out there, having God knows what happen to her, and Rosalie wanted me to keep this important information a secret. How could I…? "Please Edward…"

Sighing, I looked down for a few seconds, clenched and unclenched my fists before looking back in my sister's pleading eyes. They seemed to have a plan and I simply had to go along with it. "Alright… but you're keeping me up to date with _everything_ that you are doing. Got it?" Rosalie and Alice nodded simultaneously as Rose placed Bella's phone in her pocket and hugged me tightly once. "I won't lose her… not to this man."

"You won't because we'll get her back before anything happens. I promise Edward," Rosalie said, placing her free hand on my shoulder and softly but apologetically smiling at me. "We've got this under control Edward. We can do this and get Bella back before anything happens. I promise you."

Nodding at her, we all walked back into the police station to find everyone with worrisome faces, as if something had happened while the three of us were outside. Looking at Jasper and Emmett, they looked grave. And it worried me more than anything. "What's the matter?" I asked Jasper, hoping that he would be calm enough to fill me with some answers.

But it was Emmett that responded for Jasper, seeing as he was calm for once. "They found someone's DNA against the blood on Bella's truck. And they don't like what they found," Emmett explained, looking at the police officers in the distance after explaining that. My blood felt cold now. If the police didn't like who had kidnapped my love, then it couldn't be good for her. Bella was in danger, more than anyone probably imagined. And there was nothing that we could do. Not at the moment anyways… Emmett pointed to one of the female officers in front of us who had her back to us. "She's the one in charge of the case. We've dealt with her before…"

Suddenly, as the woman turned around, her face brought memories back. Of course, they weren't pleasant memories but there were safe memories all the same. Her face made me think of the moment when the police had invaded our house and set up all of their equipments to try and find my beloved. This police officer had believed our story about Charlie when no one else did. This police officer was someone that had helped us find Bella and bring her home safely. This police officer made me feel a little hope.

"Hello Edward. I was hoping to see you all under better conditions," The police woman said, approaching us with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Same to you, Janet. I heard that you were the one handling this case?"

Nodding, Janet looked up at me and tried to stay composed. "That's right. With the fact that we found Charlie and brought Bella home safe, they put me in charge of this case as well, knowing that I had experience with your girlfriend," Janet explained, making me flinch a little at the word 'girlfriend'. It made me think of everything that I had said to Bella in the parking lot once more. It hadn't been her fault that those things had been said. It was the mystery man's fault for using my beloved this way.

"I also heard that you found something…?" I asked; my voice a little hoarse when asking this.

Janet frowned ever so slightly and nodded once. "You heard correctly. We… We did find something." Janet began fishing through the papers on her desk and produced three papers: one with a man's face on it, one with the pictures of Bella's bloody truck and another with nearly a dozen female faces on it. But what did all of this mean? "We found one strand of light brown hair—barely recognizable against the blood but it was still there—and it didn't belong to Bella Swan. It belongs to this man," Janet said, pointing to the picture of the mug shot picture of a man with light brown hair, dark brown eyes and a venomous expression in his features. "His name is James. He was arrested once for owning an illegal strip club and was released a few years ago. James was part of the Special Forces many years ago as their professional sniper and spy so he's quite experienced in hunting people down, even more girls. Considering his background, he's been the prime suspect in many other murders." Janet took the paper with the image of the dozens of girls and showed them to me.

"Who are these…?" I asked, looking at the girls more closely. It seemed as though each of these girls each had one of Bella's features: brown hair, brown eyes, a wonderful smile, soft, but at the same time strong, features… I missed Bella so much. And to think that she could be in the hands of a sadistic monster such as this man… it made my blood boil in anger.

"I know what you're thinking and you're right. These girls look like Bella Swan, both in characteristics and in features. That's what attracts James most of all; these looks. And Bella seems to have them all, which will make James want her even more. He'd taken each of these girls in a secluded area but not before torturing them mentally. We had reports from each of the girl's parents and they all said that the girls had changed both mentally and in their actions. They'd hidden themselves in their rooms, acted out… many other things before being taken.

"We would always find the victims five days later in an unrecognizable condition. Normally, they would be beaten beyond recognition and it would be difficult to identify who was who. Only their dental records would identify them. But what made it worse were the signs of sexual abuse on their bodies, mostly around the chest and lower abdomen area. They were always found in a horrible shape," Janet explained, making me freeze in horror. Words kept popping into my mind from what she kept explaining to me. Sexual abuse… Beaten beyond recognition… Changed… Horrible shape… All of those things could happen to Bella and there was nothing that we could do about it now. "If James has her, then we don't have much time."

"So… you're saying that…" I tried to say but the words didn't seem to want to come. If they were uttered from my mouth, then that would mean that it was the truth and my Bella might not make it back to me. She needed to come back…

"If James really does have her, then Bella Swan might only have five days to live… and she wouldn't return to us in one piece."

**Ok so I know that this story seems like it's gonna be a rape story but let me tell you now that IT IS NOT. So don't fret. It won't get that far. Trust me. But what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Please let me know in some REVIEWS!**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

10


	15. Horror

**Ok so let's try this again... I hadn't gotten any reviews for this chapter for two days now so I am trying it again. If I don't get any chapters for this one, then I will be very very disappointed. So here is the next chapter guys. Please READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 14

Horror

**Edward's Point of View**

No. No… this couldn't happen, not to my Bella. She was so full of life, even with her horrible past. If he took… advantage of her like that and killed her, then I would lose her forever. I would lose her to a psychopath who only wanted to hurt girls like Bella. We'd all seen Bella close to death and we didn't want that to happen once again. And her virginity wasn't his to take! Bella deserved to have someone she loved take it from her out of her own free will, not by force.

My body seemed frozen. Images of Bella, bloody and barely recognizable, kept running through my mind. It made my blood run ice cold and my body shake a little. That couldn't happen… I couldn't think like that. Bella was gonna be alright in the end. She would make it through. I would make sure that she made it through.

Looking around, Jasper and Emmett had frozen as well, their eyes displaying only fear for Bella's safety and, more importantly, fear of what could happen to her. Hearing the part about the… it was so hard to even _think_ the word 'rape' and especially connect it to Bella… made everyone fear for our friend, sister and love.

Alice and Rosalie had apparently been listening to the conversation that Janet and I had been having and Alice seemed furious. Her hands were turned into fists and her tiny form was shaking, those green eyes of her piercing anything that came in contact with. She was trembling with rage at what could happen to her sister.

But Rosalie… Rose was another matter completely.

My older sister had completely frozen but not in fear. She froze in horror, her eyes fixed on the scene in front of her but seeming to see through everything. Her body started shaking ever so slightly in horror. Even her widened eyes seemed frozen. Recollection began passing through me and I stepped in front of my sister, which she barely seemed to notice. Touching Rosalie's hand slowly and softly, Rose flinched badly and stared up at me, her eyes filled with horror.

My hands cupped her cheeks slowly and she shook in my hands. "Rose, you're ok. You're not there anymore," I said softly, trying to calm her down as much as possible. Even though my own fears for Bella's safety were overwhelming me, Rosalie's past horrors were more important to deal with at this very moment. "You're alright Rose… He's not here…"

"What are you talking about?" Emmett asked, finally snapping out of his shock and fear to turn towards us, looking at his girlfriend carefully.

"When you're ready to talk, let me know. I'm going to try and find some more information to help us find Bella," Janet said, nodding once before walking over to the other police officers, trying to figure out more information to help us find my girlfriend.

Emmett turned towards me, questioning me deeply. "What aren't you telling me?" He asked; his tone demanding and dangerous.

So Rosalie hadn't told him… I was the only one who knew about this. Our parents knew but Alice was too young to be able to understand this. And I was simply a year younger than Rosalie so my parents thought it would be best to confide in me at the time.

Sighing, I placed my hand softly in Rosalie's, squeezing it softly and looking in her eyes. "Let's go outside alright? Rosalie can explain it there. Right here is not the place…" I said, seeing Rosalie nod and let go of my hand, walking up to Emmett shakily. Emmett seemed a little confused—and so did Jasper and Alice—but they soon complied and followed us all outside and walked towards my car, seeing as it was a slight distance from the police station. Looking over at Rose, she was holding onto Emmett's hand as if it was a lifeline. She was so scared… And she had a reason to. It was normal for her to feel this way. "Rose, are you sure you want to say this now?"

Rosalie nodded slowly and looked up at Emmett, hoping through her eyes that he would understand. But her boyfriend simply looked confused. No one but Rose and I knew what this was about and it scared everyone.

Emmett squeezed Rose's hand softly as she looked at everyone in front of her. Taking a deep breath, Rose spoke slowly and said: "About a year and a half before finding Emmett, I was dating a boy named Royce. He was about two years older than me but he had found an interest in me when we'd moved to San Francisco. He seemed so perfect… Royce was just about to finish high school and I was in the middle of my sophomore year but he had seen something in me and was immediately interested in wanting to date me. All of the girls were after him because of his good looks and everything and, I have to admit that I was attracted to him as well.

"He'd been very nice in the beginning and luckily, he was only a few houses down from our house on the street. But one night…" Rosalie sighed, closed her eyes and continued the story with her eyes closed. "That night changed everything. It was the night that I'd first finished my June exams and he wanted to hang out that night. Mom and Dad didn't really pay any interest in it. They just thought that it was another one of my dates with Royce. But when I got to his house, he seemed off. What's worst was that his parents weren't home.

"He pulled me inside and… and he began sweet talking me while locking the door behind him. I got a little scared and he brought his arms around me so tightly that I couldn't escape. The scent of beer and vodka was all over him so I knew that he was drunk," Rosalie explained, her hands turning into fists slowly and her body began shaking with the recollection. Emmett never removed his hand from hers but you could tell that everyone around us was starting to understand the situation. My eyes never left Rosalie's shaking form and she continued slowly and shakily. "He… Royce dragged me to the couch and pushed himself on top of me. I… I felt my phone in my back pocket hit the couch hard and, at the time, I wasn't aware that with the force that he had thrown me onto the couch, my phone accidentally called the house. I… I tried to push him off but he was so strong… I was still a little kid at the time so his strength compared to mine wasn't even close."

Emmett started shaking in rage and, to my surprise, placed a soft hand on Rosalie's shoulder, making her slowly look up at him with fresh tears in the corner of her eyes. "Are you trying to tell me that he raped you?" Emmett asked, his tone ever so slightly demanding but worried all the same. You could tell that Emmett wanted to rip Royce to pieces and throw them to any wild animal in sight but he would never get the chance to do so. "If he did Rosie, I'm going to—"

Rosalie placed one of her shaky hands on his and her tears slowly began flowing down her face. She shook her head and continued the story. "He never got the chance… Mom and Dad were banging on the door by the time Royce had ripped my shirt in half. Royce hadn't liked that my parents were here, screaming at Royce to let them in and he slapped me across the face, making me cry in pain. That sound made Dad basically break down the door and enter the house, looking at Royce with a murderous look. I'd never seen Dad so angry… And Mom, well after Dad ripped Royce off of me and slammed him against a wall, she ran up to me and wrapped a blanket around me, holding me to her as I kept on crying and holding my ripped shirt close to me. There wasn't much else that I could do at that point. I was trembling and scared all over.

"Dad called the police and Royce was brought to jail for sexual abuse but Edward and my parents helped me through it. After a while, I was able to forget what had happened but… hearing what could happen to Bella, it just made me remember…" Rosalie finished, having Emmett wrap his arms around her and place a hand on the back of her head, trying to bring her even closer to him.

Jasper just had an empty look on his face. He'd been too surprised to do anything during the entire story and now that he knew more about one of his friends, it scared him beyond anything. I was as upset as always when hearing this story. Hearing how much my sister had to go through because of one man sickened me but it was Alice who was worse. Her small hands were literally shaking at the moment with rage. No one had informed her about this event until now and she wasn't happy about that. Of course, her worry over her sister was trampling that anger but it was still there and eminent.

Placing my hand on Alice's shoulder, she shrugged it of and looked at all of us in anger. "Why wasn't I told of this?" Alice bellowed, obviously angrier than ever now.

Rosalie slowly turned her head from Emmett's chest and looked at her little sister, wiping her tears while trying to stay as calm as possible. "You were had just turned twelve at the time Ali. Mom didn't want you to know because she thought that you were too young to know…" Rosalie said softly, trying to reassure her younger sister but Alice wasn't having any of that. She always hated being left out of these sorts of big things.

"My sister gets almost _raped_ and you decide to leave me out of this just because _I'm too young_? Edward was only thirteen and he got to know! Why was I left out?" Alice exclaimed, tears starting to run down her face. She was angry at being left out but you could tell that her biggest worry right now was Rosalie's safety. Sure, Alice hadn't known what had happened to Rose all those years ago but she knew now and she was afraid for Rose.

"Edward was fourteen. I was about to turn sixteen so he was close to my age. And he was in the kitchen, grabbing something to eat, at the time. Mom had told him but had made him promise not to tell you so that you wouldn't be so scared. We were only trying to protect you Alice…" Rosalie explained softly, trying to reason with Alice but my little sister was just too angry. Alice kept shaking her head, closing her eyes and looking down, trying to stay calm but she couldn't. Rosalie stepped out of Emmett's arms—which he was unwilling to do—and advanced towards her sister, wrapping her arms around Alice's tiny form. Alice clung to Rose as if she were a lifeline that would eventually disappear out of thin air. "Everything's alright Ali… I'm fine. Nothing happened," Rose soothed, stroking Alice's spiky hair softly.

"But something could have happened… And I wouldn't have been there to help… Just don't leave me out again Rosie… Please…" Alice sobbed into her sister's chest as Rosalie tightened her grip on her sister, trying to comfort her as best as she could. Jasper placed a hand on Alice's back and began rubbing soft circles in that one spot, feeling a little useless at the moment because his girlfriend was hurting and he couldn't do much about it. "Just don't Rosie…"

"I promise Alice. We're gonna be fine. But we gotta focus on Bella now… If we don't save her, then she'll be in a much worse condition than I was," Rosalie said, lifting Alice's head so that they could see into each other's eyes and began wiping away Alice's tears. Rose might act tough on the outside most of the time but if it came down to her family, she was always soft and sweet on the inside. Always. "You gonna be alright Ali? Can you keep it together?"

Alice nodded and we slowly made our way into the police station, my sisters wiping their eyes slowly to try and remove the redness from their eyes. But when entering the police station, Janet saw us enter and grabbed a box of tissues, passing it over to Rosalie and Alice, who each took one. "Thank you," Alice said softly, wiping her eyes with the tissue before looking at Janet worriedly. "Have you found anything?"

Janet shook her head and looked at me. "We haven't found any new information but we do need to inform your parents. Considering that Bella is their adoptive daughter, they should be informed," Janet said, looking apologetically at us. "Plus, we will need to set up at your house once more in case he calls or anything."

"We can't. Mom just got shot a few hours ago and if she has any other stress given on her body, I think that she would just get worse instead of getting better," I said, feeling a little bit of panic build up in my body. What would Mom and Dad say? And Mom's condition might worsen if we told them… but if we didn't tell them, then we were the ones at fault and they would know that something was wrong if they saw the police at the house.

"They will worry enough when they see us there Edward. And it is their daughter… They need to know," Janet said, handing me the cordless phone and stepping back. "I'll give you a few minutes."

Janet walked away as I looked down at the phone, my fingers shaking as they pressed the buttons for Dad's number. He would tell Mom and she would freak… God this was horrible. But it had to be done… Dialling Dad's number, I placed the phone to my ear, looking at my siblings and friends, and waited as the ringing seemed to prolong itself.

**Carlisle's Point of View**

Esme was still asleep and seemed to be at peace. Her breathing was still a little uneven but it had gotten ever so slightly better from when the children were here. They had looked so distraught that they took care of Esme for a little while before going back to the house. I wanted to stay next to Esme as much as I could before the doctors would tell me to leave for the night. She should be able to wake up with someone that she loved next to her. To think that she could have died on our house floor… The image of her paling bloody body kept replaying in my mind and it wouldn't stop.

I kept stroking her beautiful hand softly when my phone began vibrating in my pocket. Looking at Esme once, my hand fetched into my pocket and pulled the phone out, seeing on the caller ID that it was an unknown number. Standing up, I kissed Esme's hand softly and made my way out of the room, looking at her once before stepping out completely and placing the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked, closing the door softly behind me and walking over to the window where I could still keep an eye on my wounded beloved. She was still uncomfortably asleep as my son's voice came into the speaker of my phone.

"_Dad, there's something we have to tell you,_" Edward said, his voice melancholic and it made me start to worry. What was wrong with him? Normally, we have a pleasant conversation and then jump into the situation. But at the moment, there was definitely something wrong with my son. "_It's important…_"

"What's the matter son?" I asked, my tone etched with worry now.

Gripping the phone even tighter, Edward began speaking again, making me panic even more. Our family has had enough to worry about to last a lifetime. "_Look, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell Mom. It'll just make her worry even more and we don't want that at the moment. She'll figure it out when she gets to the house…_" Edward said cryptically, not telling me the issue at the moment and it made me worry even more. What wasn't he telling me?

"Edward, you know that I can't keep anything from your mother. What is the matter?" I asked my son, crossing my free arm over my chest and looking at Esme through the window, trying to find some calm in looking at my sleeping wife. Edward seemed to hesitate a little and it made me panic even more. "Edward, tell me now. What is the matter?" I said, expressing each other separately to try and make my point across.

Edward sighed and his next words made my blood run ice cold, my eyes widen and my body freeze. "_Jasper found Bella's bloody truck on the side of the road and she wasn't in it. The police found who took her and it doesn't look good for her. She… Bella might have a maximum of five days to live…_"

No…

**Esme's Point of View**

My body felt so sore, especially my side. It felt as though someone had run over my stomach with a car and kept me alive. My eyes felt heavy but after a few attempts of opening them, they opened as a moan escaped my lips. When open my eyes, everything felt blurry. It took a few moments before my vision cleared and I began to realize where I was. A hospital. But… why was I here?

Suddenly, the realization of why I was here in this room came back to me. I was making supper and had a plate in my hands when the window in front of me shattered and splitting pain ran through me, making me drop the plate from my hand on the ground and letting me fall to the ground, shaking as my side flared in pain and blood trickled down from my wound. It was so strange that it happened this way. Why attack me? What was going on…?

My weak hand fumbled blindly with the bed a little to find nothing next to me. Looking around, there was no one in the room. But as my eyes scanned the room, they spotted the window by my side and my wonderful husband seemed to be staring at me. But… he wasn't looking at me with a smile or anything that I would have pictured him with. It was a face of horror. I'd never seen Carlisle so horrified… What was the matter with him?

Carlisle saw me stare at him and he moved away, seeming to talk into the phone about something. Who was he talking to? And what was so important that he had to look away from me? Trying to move from my bed made me wince in pain, which Carlisle seemed to have seen and he began moving towards my hospital door, closing his phone before entering and looking at me. "Esme, you shouldn't try to move too much," Carlisle said, placing me slowly back to my original position on the bed with soft but shaky hands. He still seemed horrified about something… but what was it? What wasn't he telling me? It couldn't be that horrible, could it?

"Who was that on the phone…?" I asked, laying back uncomfortably against the pillows as my wound seemed to bother me a little now. There was a morphine needle stuck in my hand so the pain wasn't as bad.

Carlisle seemed to be hesitating and shook his head slowly, taking a hold of my hand softly in both of his and held it ever so tightly in his. What was wrong with him? He was never like this. "It's nothing darling. Just try and get some rest alright? You've been through a terrible ordeal," Carlisle soothed, stroking my hair with his left hand and looking me in the eyes softly. All I could see in his eyes was fear and despair but what was he worried about?

"Carlisle… Tell me… I need to know… What has gotten you so afraid…?" I asked, squeezing his hand with as much strength as I could muster at the moment, wanting to know what had him so worried and frightened. Carlisle looked down a little and it made me panic a little, having my heart rate monitor raise up a little. "Carlisle… What's wrong…?" My love sighed and looked at me sadly, uncertain if he should tell me or not. Something was obviously wrong and it bothered me. "Please… You're worrying me…"

"Edward just called and… there's some bad news at the house. I just don't want to worry you too much Esme. It was a close call when we brought you to the hospital so I don't want to—"

"Carlisle… if it's something about the family… then I need to know…"

Carlisle looked at me worriedly but sighed and gripped my hand in both of his tightly. After a few seconds of worrying, my husband looked me square in the eyes and his voice was shaking. "Bella's missing. And… it seems that she is running out of time."

**Ok so did anyone read this? What did you guys think? Good? Bad? Please let me know in some REVIEWS PLEASE!**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**


	16. Horrifyingly aware

**Ok so I'm terribly sorry that I haven't updated in so long but I totally didn't have any inspiration. Plus, my USB kept having problems so I think I redid this chapter like three or four times and finally was able to save this one properly before it deleted itself. Good thing I keep backups of some things… Anyways, here's the chapter. Hope you guys like it. READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 15

Horrifyingly aware

**Esme's Point of View**

My eyes widened when hearing the news. Sitting up abruptly, a sharp pain in my side began to erupt as the heart rate monitor began beeping incessantly. "What do you mean she's missing…?! Where is she…?" I demanded, panting from the pain in my side.

Carlisle's expression sharpened as he saw my movement and he shot out of his seat, placing his hands on my shoulders and pushing me ever so softly back in my bed. "Esme, you need to calm down alright? It's not going to help anyone if your heart stops once more. You need to take deep breaths and lean back against your pillows, alright Esme? Please Esme, please relax," Carlisle asked, stroking my shoulders as he locked eyes with me, trying to get me to listen to his reason.

I knew that he was right, that my breathing needed to slow down so that I could heal faster. And so, knowing that he was right, I obeyed his demands to lie back down against the pillows and try to breathe normally. Closing my eyes slowly, my breathing began slowly to get back to normal. After a few breaths, the heart rate monitor seemed to have gone back to normal, letting us know that my heart rate was back to normal. Opening my eyes slowly, the pain in my side seemed to slowly dissipate and Carlisle seemed to slowly sit back down, never taking his eyes off of me.

"I'm sorry Carlisle… I'm just worried," I responded slowly, still continuing to take slow breaths while trying not to panic about the situation.

Carlisle took my hand slowly and started stroking it with his thumb slowly while looking me deep in the eyes. "We all are, love," Carlisle said before bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing my hand slowly and delicately. "We'll get her back though, don't worry."

"Please tell me what has happened Carlisle… How was she taken…? What did Edward say…? And what do you mean she's out of time…?" I asked, looking down at him, seeing that he finally took his gaze away from mine. Carlisle sighed and began mentally contemplating if he should inform me or not about this but I had to know. Bella was my daughter. "Please Carlisle… I have to know… This is Bella we're talking about… I have to know what's wrong with her…"

Carlisle sighed and looked me once in the eyes before directing his gaze back to the hand holding mine. "Bella hadn't entered with the rest of us when we went to see you a few hours ago. I… I couldn't quite put the pieces together but it seemed as though she was dealing with a lot when the accident happened and she ran. Jasper was the one to find the car… Apparently, Bella had ran off and tried to drive back to the house by a different route; a route that's much different from the one we normally take, one that seemed to be more secluded than other routes. Jasper… Jasper was driving in that direction to come see you when he saw the truck. It… It was totalled, wrapped around a tree. And it was all bloody.

"But the worst part was that Bella wasn't in it. Her blood was there but she wasn't. So Jasper called the police and the kids are now there, waiting until the police can go to the house and set up there to continue the investigation. But they told me about what this man… this psychopath… is planning to do with Bella and it makes my stomach turn into knots at the thought of all of this."

Carlisle took a deep breath and seemed to suck in a large breath before continuing to explain this horrifying story. "This man doesn't just take his victims and tortures them physically… He tortures them mentally and emotionally beforehand. He slips into his victim's lives and blackmails them to do his bidding. The parents of the victims say that their daughters had changed before they were taken from their homes. They'd changed mentally and physically before he took them.

"The police aren't sure that he is the one, per say, who did the previous murders but they are certain that he is the one who took Bella. And what he plans on doing with Bella is… gruesome and mortifying." Carlisle stopped in his explanation, seeming to have gone a little paler than normal. What was so horrifying that made him like this…? I'd never seen Carlisle so mortified before.

"Tell me Carlisle… I… I can handle this," I responded, squeezing his hand with the minimal amount of strength that I had left in my body at the moment. A part of me wasn't sure if I wanted to hear this information but the other part reminded me that Bella was my daughter and that she was in trouble. She needed our help, which meant that I had to hear this. "Please…"

Carlisle sighed and looked down at my hand, afraid to look me in the eyes and see the hesitation. And so he began to speak again. "This man releases those girls after five days. But… it's the shape that they're in that frightens me." Carlisle's never admitted outright that he was afraid, which began to frighten me ever so slightly.

"What shape were they in…?" I asked, trying to make it easier for him but it didn't seem to help at all.

Carlisle took another breath and hesitated before continuing the explanation quickly. "Edward told me that the girls would be brought back beaten beyond recognition… Only the dental records could identify them. But…" Carlisle seemed to freeze a little but gripped my hand ever so slightly and continued. "But the morgue would always find sexual abuse on them around the chest and lower abdomen area…" My eyes widened and it felt as if my blood had run cold, forcing shivers to run through my body. No… "Edward says that if we don't find Bella in five days, then she'll end up suffering the same fate as the other girls."

There were no words that could have been uttered from my mouth right now. Everything about me was frozen in fear and shock. Memories of Rosalie, crying with her shirt ripped open and bruises on her frail skin, kept running through my mind at this latest news. Rosalie had almost suffered that fate and Bella could be next.

How could Bella have been taken? Why her? I'd seen her yesterday. She seemed healthy and… Wait a second. Why hadn't I seen it before? Carlisle had said that the previous girls had been blackmailed at home before they were taken, that they had been changed. He'd done the same to Bella. She was always stuck in her room and seemed to be crying endlessly, as if there was something wrong. Why hadn't anyone seen this before?! Maybe this could have been prevented if we'd just been there for her…

"That's why Bella's been so distant lately… He was using her…" I said, looking up at the ceiling as a few stray tears began falling down my cheeks. My daughter was taken and I was simply lying here in this hospital, waiting to get better. But Bella might not come back. We could lose her forever and I would still be here, stuck and helpless. "Why didn't I see it before…? I could have tried to prevent this… Somehow or someway… I could have prevented this…"

Carlisle brought his chair forward and began wiping the tears slowly from my eyes, looking deep in them as he tried to stop my tears from falling. "This is not your fault Esme. He used her and we were blind to that fact. The only thing we can do now is try our hardest to get Bella back safely," he said, stroking my cheeks softly as he comforted my sobbing.

Looking deep into his eyes, I tried to take some of his calming waves and place them in myself but it didn't seem to work. Only one thing would… "Carlisle… Take me home… Please… I need to help…" I pleaded, keeping a hold of his hand, the very same one that I had been holding since he began explaining the situation to me.

"You are helping by healing, Esme. You need to rest," Carlisle insisted, stroking my hair with his free hand and crouching down to stare in my eyes.

"I can heal at home… Please Carlisle… She's my daughter… I can't just stay here and wait to see if she'll come home… Please Carlisle… Please… Just take me home…" I pleaded, a few more tears falling down at the thought that Bella is feeling all alone because no one is there to help her through this. I wanted to help her. She was my daughter after all. Our family would do whatever it took to get her back; that was a promise. Carlisle seemed to hesitate and he sighed sadly. "Please Carlisle… I'm begging you…"

Carlisle seemed to take the longest time simply looking in my eyes but he finally sighed, sat back down and pushed the nurse button to my right. A nurse's voice came in through the speaker and said: "_Hello? How may I help you?_"

"Yes, I would like to speak to the doctor in charge of looking over my wife, Mrs. Esme Cullen, please," my husband informed, looking at me once and then turning his attention back to the speaker. What was he going to do?

"_I'll send him over right away,_" the nurse responded.

"Thank you," Carlisle said before removing his thumb from the speaker button and leaning back ever so slightly in his seat, looking my way. He never took his hand out of mine but I could tell that he was debating something: whether to get the doctor to let me go tonight or not.

We didn't say anything for a few minutes but, just as I was about to break the silence, the door to my room swung open and a male doctor came through, holding a clipboard in his hand. Looking up at us, he smiled softly and I could see that his name tag said 'Dr. Dean Hodge'. "Hello, what may I do for you?" Dr. Hodge looked at me and smiled once again. "I see that you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Shrugging, I looked at him and simply lay back against the pillows. "I've been better…" was my only reply as the doctor looked over my chart and wrote a few notes.

"In fact, the reason we called you here is to ask you if we could discharge my wife here. We must go home immediately and she would like to go back to the house," Carlisle said, looking back at me with a small wink before looking back at Dr. Hodge.

The doctor frowned ever so slightly, looked back at my chart before looking at Carlisle and I. "I'm afraid that we can't allow that. Considering that your wife was just admitted with a severe injury and almost died on the operating table, we need to keep her overnight to see if there are any changes," Dr. Hodge explained, placing a hand on the foot railing to look at my husband square in the eyes. I couldn't want to stay stuck in this hospital while my daughter was out there, probably fighting to stay alive against this man. This wound might be very recent but they had to let me go. She was my family. I can't just stay here… I can't…

"I understand that but I am a doctor. My license might have been revoked for eight more months but I can easily take care of her at home," Carlisle explained, waiting for the right moment to explain that Bella had been taken. At least, that was my hope.

"I'm sorry sir but I cannot give you the paperwork to sign your wife out but if you come back—"

"My daughter's just been taken by a psychotic lunatic and I cannot stay here… I need to help the police find my daughter and I can't do that here… Please doctor… Please let me leave…" I pleaded, holding Carlisle's hand tightly in hopes that he would let me go tonight.

But my hopes never came true. Dr. Hodge frowned at the sudden news, looked down at my charts and sighed. "That might be why your heart rate skyrocketed before." He sighed before and looked back at Carlisle. "Dr. Cullen, the best I can do is, when I come in to work at seven tomorrow morning, is to let you meet me then and I can give you your wife's release forms and she can leave. That is honestly the best I can do," Dr. Hodge said, moving his hands to the side momentarily before looking at us both sympathetically. "I'm terribly sorry but that's the best that I can offer you. Your wife has a terrible wound and we do not want anything to happen to her overnight."

"We understand doctor. We'll take your new offer and we'll discharge her tomorrow morning. Thank you for giving us this opportunity," Carlisle said calmly, standing up and shaking the doctor's hand before Dr. Hodge left the room, clipboard in hand, and closed the door softly behind him. Carlisle took his seat once more and looked at me softly. "His offer is better than nothing. Tomorrow morning, you'll be home with the kids and we can all look for Bella together," Carlisle said, trying to reassure me as he stroked my hair softly, squeezing my hand with his softly.

Sighing, I leaned back against the pillows and slowly closed my eyes, nodding as Carlisle came and kissed the top of my head softly, stroking my cheek softly. Opening my eyes slowly, he was looking at me with adoration, passion and worry but he was there for me… Now I needed to be there for Bella. She needed a mother, and I was going to be there for her.

Tomorrow I'd be home, and I could start helping my daughter come home.

**Alice's Point of View**

After a few hours, the police had finally given us the confirmation that we could leave the station and go do our own things. We'd given them one of our house keys and they had begun setting everything up at the house without another word to us. Rosalie and I had decided to take the car and Rosalie had let me take the wheel because of her arm.

"Are you sure that she can help us?" Rosalie asked as we were nearly to our destination, which wasn't home.

Nodding, I looked at her and smiled ever so slightly, not able to do anything else with the situation that was given to us this morning. With Bella being taken like this—and what could possibly be done to her—all of our moods had taken a downhill turn for the worse. All everyone felt was worry and fear, which no one could blame them. Bella was a part of this family and if this James laid so much as a finger on her, then he would have to pay by our hands.

"Yeah, she'll help us. I know she will…" I responded; looking back in front of us as her house came into view. My heart began to feel tight at the possibility that this could fail, that she couldn't help us—or wouldn't help us, which would hardly the case. "I hope anyways…"

Rosalie nodded and parked slowly in the driveway, letting me put the parking break on—considering the driveway was on a slight steep hill—before getting out slowly. Closing the door, I looked at the moderately large house in front of us and gulped once, hoping that this wasn't a dead end. Could she really help us? Was I just going on a hunch about this? What if this would only make things worse on Bella? Was he still looking after us or was he only interested in Bella now? God… if he hurt Bella that way, then my family and I would go to the ends of the Earth to see him dead and buried six feet under.

Walking slowly up the steps to the house, Rosalie and I looked at each other once we arrived at the top before looking back at the mahogany door. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door three times and waited with slight impatience. We only had five days to find my sister and it was already twilight.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Rosalie asked me as light footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door.

Sighing sadly, I placed my hands in my pockets and looked at her sadly. "I'm not sure but I really hope so…" was my answer before the door swung open and a woman with light brown hair and seemingly always-gentle brown eyes came into view.

"Alice? Rosalie? What's going on?" The girl asked; confusion written in her tone, clearly showing that she wasn't expecting us tonight.

"Hi Angela, can we talk to you about something?"

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10


	17. Help in odd places

**Ok so here's the next chapter. I just hope that I will get more reviews than last time. Only four made me a little sad and I didn't have much inspiration so reviews would be appreciated please. So now please READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 16

Help in odd places

**Alice's Point of View**

"Sure," Angela asked, looking behind her slowly and looking back at us, closing the door behind her as she stood with us on her front porch. Her eyes only held confusion, so she must not have known about Bella just yet. "What's this about exactly?"

Rosalie and I looked at each other slowly and looked back at Angela. "Is there somewhere more private that we can talk? We need to talk to you about something…" Rosalie said, gripping her hands tightly, trying to find a way to explain it correctly. It was difficult to say it outright. If we did, then it would mean that it was true. But we had to, if we wanted Angela to help us find Bella.

Angela looked around and looked at the chairs on the porch, seeing two chairs and a table. "Um… this is the most private I suppose. Everyone's in the back cooking the barbecue so they're preoccupied," Angela explained as she led us over to the chairs. Rosalie sat down on the table while I sat opposite of Angela on a different chair. Placing my hands on my lap, I looked at Rosalie for a small confirmation of where to start and who should start this hard conversation. Angela looked between the two of us, her innocent eyes extremely confused. "What the heck is going on here? Both of you are acting weirder than usual…"

Rosalie sighed and decided to be the first to speak. "Look, there's something that we gotta tell you… something bad," Rosalie started before beginning her explanation on the situation.

Throughout the entire explanation, Angela's eyes seemed to get even wider as Rosalie spoke. Angela hadn't been expecting to hear such horrifying news and frankly, neither were we when we had heard it. Near the end, when we explained to her in what condition Bella might return if we didn't find her in five days, she placed her hand on her mouth, horrified by this man's evil ways. By the end, she was in tears, her free hand gripping the arm of the chair as the other was still kept on her mouth, shaking.

"How can anyone be so cruel…?" Angela asked, bowing her head and wiping her tears shakily, trying to stay strong but her tears kept flowing down. Angela and Bella might not have known each other long but they became close friends. They cared about one another. "I can't believe he'd do that to Bella…"

"I know. We…" Rosalie looked at me one but then looked back at Angela slowly. "We know that it's hard to believe but the evidence is there. And we have to stop him from hurting her."

"Which is why we came to you for help," I said, placing my hand softly on her knee, trying to get her to look at me.

After a few seconds, Angela looked back up at me but confusion had spread across her features. She seemed to be clueless to something. Didn't she know…?

"How… How can I help?" She asked while wiping the last of her tears and looking at both of us in utter confusion. So she seemed unaware of what I was talking about. Maybe these were only rumours…

When looking over at Rosalie, she nodded as an indication that this was the right time to ask. I'd informed Rosalie of my suspicions and hopes in the car but we had to make sure that Angela would help us; if she could help us. "Well… um… there seems to be rumours going around that you started a computer club after school. Apparently you can do anything with a computer," I stated, looking Angela directly in the eyes.

Suddenly, realization began setting in her eyes and she leaned back into her chair ever so slightly. Looking down at her lap, she mumbled a soft: "You've heard correctly," before looking up at us once more. So we were finally getting somewhere with all of this.

And now for the hard question…

"So you could get into anything, like a computer or…" I began asking, placing a hand on my pocket, where Bella's phone lay. My fingers began to fidget a little around the fabric of my jeans, praying that she would say what I wanted to hear. "Or even a cell phone?"

Angela narrowed her eyes at us and began having the confusion return to her eyes. "What do you mean…?" Angela looked at both of us and her eyes fell on me after a while. "I mean, I can fix a computer easily and I've been studying to go into computer science but what does this have to do with anything…? Can if help Bella?"

"It might." I fished out the cell phone from my pocket and held it up at chest level. Angela looked down at the cell phone and then looked back at me, even more confusion playing across her innocent eyes. "This is Bella's phone. We've found some messages on this phone but the number is unknown," I began explaining slowly.

Rosalie took over and spoke in the same tone as I just used. "We know that you can get into computers and you're smart enough to get into any school that you want. What we're asking is if you can get into this phone and see who kept messaging our sister," Rosalie explained, looking directly into Angela's now less confused eyes. Angela seemed a little hesitant on that fact and it made me worry. Would she do it for us? "Our sister's life is on the line. We can't afford to lose her, not like this. So please… if you can help us, then we'll promise we'll never bother you with stuff like this again."

Angela took the phone slowly, opened it and began looking through the texts messages, trying to familiarise herself with the situation even more. Her eyes widened even more and she placed her hand back over her mouth, appalled that someone would do this. "He's been using her this whole time…?" Angela asked as she looked back over to us and placed the phone back in my hand, starting to shake ever so slightly in fright. Was it right to ask someone so sweet to do this for us? Maybe Edward was right. Maybe we did need to contact the police instead of her.

Rosalie nodded and placed her hands on her knees, trying to stay as calm as she could. "We didn't know before today that he was using her like this. But we think that we might be able to find out who sent these and where to find him. It's our only shot…" my sister explained, her hands now gripping her knees to the point where her knuckles began to turn white.

"We just want our sister back safely…" I finished, never taking my gaze off of Angela.

Angela seemed completely torn at the moment—not that we can blame her. We did after all give her a life or death situation here—but she looked down at the phone and took it softly from my hand, giving me a small spark of hope. Would she do it? _Could_ she do it? Would we be able to find Bella in the end? She turned it around a few more times before letting her eyes rest on me and my sister.

"I know that you guys are very close. Bella and I have gotten to know each other better and we've become good friends… I can't just sit by and do nothing so I can try. Her phone seems to be a phone that's newer than what I've worked with but the functions are the same. I'm not a professional at this so it may take a few hours. That's the best I can do," Angela informed us, her face determined to help.

Smiling softly, I nodded and embraced her gently, feeling as if something was going right these days. "Thank you so much Angela. We owe you big time," I replied, separating from the hug to look in her eyes. Hope seemed to flare in me, like a match had just been lit and a campfire had erupted inside of me. Maybe we could find Bella now.

"You guys don't owe me anything. Just… get Bella back home safely alright?" Angela retorted, looking at the both of us with an apologetic but determined face. Angela had the best grades in all of the senior class. She could crack this. We could be one step closer in finding Bella if Angela could crack the code behind these texts.

We all stood up almost simultaneously and smiled at one another. "We'll bring her back home. Don't worry. Call us when you find something alright?" Rosalie said as I wrote down on a piece of paper the number to my cell phone and handed it to Angela shortly after.

Angela nodded and placed Bella's phone and the piece of paper inside her pocket, trying to be discreet about this. Her family must still be oblivious to what is happening because they were still in the backyard, preparing supper. Angela looked at us with an apologetic look in her eyes before saying: "I'm sorry about all of this. I'll try and do my best to help but I don't know if it'll work."

"Just try it. There's no harm in trying. If you don't succeed, then we'll bring it to the police. But you're smart enough to crack this so we have complete faith in you," Rosalie reassured, smiling softly at her.

Angela nodded, a little bit of doubt in her eyes but it was easily hidden when we decided to make our way back to the house for supper. She said that she would call us the minute that she cracked it and we were thrilled to know that it would only take a few hours to know the news. We gave her the maximum of Sunday morning, which was the day after tomorrow, to give us a phone call if she couldn't figure it out and Angela agreed without hesitation.

As soon as we got into the car, Rosalie smiled at me as we made our way out of Angela's driveway and began driving home. "We're on the right path," she said, trying to reassure me that this was the right thing.

Nodding, I drove us home but none of us spoke. The same thought must be running through Rosalie's mind as well. What if Angela couldn't crack it? What if we weren't gonna be able to get Bella in time? We couldn't think like that…

We had to find her. We just had to get my sister back… It was a must. Bella was gonna come home, whatever it took.

**Edward's Point of View**

My feet mechanically walked over to my room, unable to comprehend much of anything at the moment. Rosalie and Alice had come home a few hours after the police had come to the house to set up and they'd explained to me their trip to Angela Weber's house. There was a chance that we could get Bella back earlier and alive. We just had to…

During my walk towards my room, I didn't realize where I was going. It was all too much to take for one day. Bella's disappearance was a large blow to me and it must be worse for Mom and Dad. They believed that she was their daughter and so it must be very difficult for them to lose a child.

Seeing as I didn't realize where my feet were taking me, they took me into Bella's room and not my own, which was the one closest to mine.

Nothing had changed here, only the fact there seemed to be only sadness in this room. No happiness or any other sort of positive emotions. Just… empty; empty of everything. My poor Bella… She'd suffered so much in silence and tried to protect us. Why couldn't anyone see that Bella was going through so much? Everyone was oblivious, which had been James's plan all along. He used my Bella and made her feel this way when this could have been all avoided.

Walking over to her bed, I saw a picture frame on her nightstand, making my heart clench at the memory. Picking it up, my eyes scanned the picture and remembered that day.

_It had been nearly two weeks after she had been rescued by Charlie. I'd been reading on the porch while everyone was away and Bella was in the kitchen, eating a small snack. But I hadn't heard Bella exiting the house and taking a picture of me, reading my book. Drawing my attention to her, she was smiling innocently while I groaned somewhat playfully. _

"_I must look horrible in that picture," I said as she walked over to me and my arms opened wide for her, letting her sit on my lap before wrapping my arms around her waist, bringing her closer to me._

"_Some of the best pictures are there are spontaneous," Bella replied, looking at the picture before turning her attention back at me with a smile plastered on her beautiful face. "The picture actually came out quite nice."_

_She showed it to me and I had to admit that it was rather well done. But there was one thing missing. "It could be better if you were in it," I replied softly, looking back up at her and flashing my Bella the crooked smile that she loved so much. There were some times when I wish we could just go back to those months and be happy. But because of James, that could never happen, not unless we got her back before the fifth day._

_Bella smiled softly and leaned into my side, smiling. "How about we change that situation?" She lifted the camera so that I could see it and smirked softly, making my heart skip a beat. She was so beautiful… I'd trade anything to see that smile once again. _

_Nodding, I said: "That's a great idea, love," before she lifted the camera up so that we could both be in the shot and smiled. _

"_Say cheese!" She said before snapping a picture of the both of us and looked at it closer after a few seconds. _

_Smiling, I squeezed her a little tighter and rested my chin against her shoulder. "It's absolutely perfect now," I said, happiness and passion written behind my words. It was true. With Bella in the picture, nothing could make it more perfect. She was perfect in every way. _

_Bella laughed softly and leaned into my side even more, wrapping her arms around me. "You're just saying that so you can get kissed," she replied, kissing my jaw softly and leaving chills on my skin. _

"_Actually, I was simply telling the truth, although I won't say no to kisses," was my short reply before we began kissing on the porch and simply relaxing in each other's arms._

That day had been perfect… and now I'd never get to see Bella's smile or hear her laugh ever again if we didn't find her in time. While remembering the memory, tears began cascading down my cheeks and fell on the glass of the picture frame. It was painful to simply think about this. Bella had broken up with me but it was because of him, of James. I should have seen it before that she didn't want to do this. Her eyes only held pain and sadness, not determination to end our relationship. There was love behind her words, yet I was too angry to even see it at the time. I had been a fool and now, because we didn't see it back then, Bella was gone.

Walking mechanically over to my room, I kept the picture frame with me, clutched against my chest so that no one could see it. When entering my room, I walked over to my bed and sat on the ground, leaning back against the bed frame, and looked down at the picture of my Bella and myself. Simply looking at her perfect smile and magnificent brown orbs made the tears fall even quicker than before and it tore my heart in two.

"Bella…" I whispered heartbrokenly. She had been the one thing that made me smile and actually feel something but now that she was gone, there was nothing. It was as if a huge hole had been punched through my chest and the only way to fix it was to get Bella back home. "I love you Bella… Please come back…" I whispered once more, closing my eyes and letting the tears fall for the first time since the news had been delivered to us.

_My Bella… I'll find you, no matter what. I won't abandon you. I will find you. _

**Rosalie's Point of View**

After the police had closed the door to the living room, it was time to go to bed. During the night while trying to help the police, exhaustion started to creep into me and Alice was the same way. She walked up to bed before I did but I stayed a little longer downstairs, trying to help the police as much as I could. Considering they said that there wasn't much that anyone could do but to let the police do their jobs, my feet began going towards my bedroom.

Dad had called and told us that he would be staying overnight with Mom, saying that she was going to come home tomorrow and that he wanted to be with her as much as possible for now. We all worried that Mom was coming home too soon but Dad had told us that she didn't want to be stuck at the hospital any longer if Bella was going to be missing, which was understandable. Mom was a mother for Bella—or a mother figure in this case. She regarded Bella as her daughter and she couldn't simply let her go through this alone.

We all wanted Bella back home safe and sound. But it was going to be a difficult task. All of us would have to be patient.

Unless Angela came up with the number to the unknown caller; then we could get Bella back quicker. Then everything could be solved. At least some part of it.

When walking up the stairs, my ears detected a faint crying sound close to the end of the hallway. Stopping and looking over to the hallway, I could tell that it was Edward's room that the sound was coming from. Walking over slowly to his door, the crying had intensified and it was honestly coming from Edward's room. My eyes detected that it was slightly ajar, indicating that I could peek through. It might be wrong to peak but he was my brother. I had to make sure he was alright.

Opening the door ever so slightly for me to see, I could tell that he was still crying. Edward was sitting on the ground, his back to me but I could tell that he was holding something in his hands; a picture frame. Walking into the room soundlessly, his crying seemed to have muffled the sound of my walking and so he couldn't hear me enter. Looking closer at the picture, I saw that it was a picture of Edward and Bella, holding each other rather tightly and smiling happily. They were happy back then… before everything fell apart.

"Bella… Please come back… I love you… Please come back to me…" Edward pleaded, tears falling on the picture frame. He sounded so heartbroken. Now that he knew that Bella didn't want to break up with him, he felt alone and that he should get her back. "I need you Bella… Please come back…"

Walking over to him, I sat down next to him and placed my good arm around him, trying to bring him closer to me. Edward seemed to have finally noticed my presence and placed the wet picture frame on the bed and leaned his head on my arm softly. He used to do that when he was little but he hadn't done this action in years. Edward must really be upset if he's acting like this.

"We'll get her back Edward… I promise," I swore, stroking his arm softly as he wiped his eyes, trying to act strong.

"I miss her so much… Why did he have to do that to her? She was happy. We were happy. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?" Edward said, getting his belongings back in order and keeping his brave face on. He didn't have to be strong around me. We all knew the situation and so Edward didn't have to act brave just for us. "I just want her back where it's safe."

"We'll get her back safely Edward. I promise. She'll be back before you know it," I replied, still stroking his arm softly. It was a promise that I intended to keep, not only for Edward but also for Bella. "I promise…"

"How can you be so sure…?"

"Because I know Bella and you know her as well. She'll come back to you, Edward. I know it," I said, trying to reassure him as much as possible. Hugging him sideways, there was only one thought that ran through my mind. And it would come true, no matter what.

_Don't worry Bella. We'll get you back. I promise…_

**So what did you guys think? Was it good? Or was it bad? Or could it have been better? Please let me know in some REVIEWS!**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

12


	18. One of his girls

**Ok so it has been a while but I was in a bit of a stump. And I was away a lot on vacation so I'm sorry for the late update but seeing as I don't have that many reviewers anymore, it isn't as if many people read this. So READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 17

One of his girls

**Bella's Point of View**

Throughout the night, my mind kept running around everything that had just happened. But the nightmares also made their way into my slumber. And it was horrifying.

_My heart was beating incredibly hard while my feet pounded against the grass floor, running painfully to my destination. My body was battered and bloody, letting some of my blood run down to the floor while I ran. It felt as though my sight was focusing in and out, probably from the blood loss. But I had to get there. I had to get to them. _

_Suddenly, the beautiful large white house came into view and a small smile played on my face. I made it… I was home… A sickening laugh was heard from behind me, making me turn in that direction to see a dark silhouette of a man, walking slowly towards me. It brought shivers down my spine to think that this man took me away from everything that I loved. Now, he was simply taunting me, tying to bring fear into me. As of now, it was working._

_Limping over to the house, my feet felt heavy as they brought me to the porch of the Cullen house. Looking down at my hands, they were bloody, scraped and beyond filthy. Some of the scrapes even burned from infection but it didn't matter. I needed to see them, to know that they would still accept me. _

_Knocking on the door, I waited in the freezing wind and hoped that the Cullens wouldn't hate me. Would they? After everything I did, it wouldn't be surprising. I really didn't expect them to but a small strand of hope told me that they may accept me again. Suddenly, the door opened slowly to reveal my angel._

_A small smile played across my lips when seeing him. "Edward..." was my soft response. But just as my smile had appeared, it disappeared in an instant at the sight of Edward's disgusted face. "Edward…?" I asked this time, unsure of what else to do. He wasn't reacting the way I had anticipated. _

"_What are _you_ doing here? I thought you left," he said indifferently, never taking his eyes off of me. Edward crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorframe; seemingly bored of this. _

_I was covered in cuts, bruises and in a horrible shape… and Edward was _bored_?! Had he really gotten over me? _

"_Edward, I… I thought that…" What _did_ I think? That Edward would feel the same way for me after I broke his heart? That the Cullens would feel the same way about me, that they would accept me? It was a hope... "I thought that—"_

"_You thought what? That after everything that you did, you'd be welcomed with open arms and get to weasel your way back into our lives just to ruin them some more?" Edward spat, every word spoken filled with venom. Every word that spilled out of his mouth seemed like a knife to the heart… and it killed me to hear them. "No way are you getting anywhere _near _this family ever again. We are not letting you ruin this family as you did. Once was enough," Edward spat, glaring at me with full hatred._

_Taking a shaky step back, my heart began to beat at an unnatural rate when looking in Edward's eyes. There wasn't a single strand of happiness or passion behind those beautiful emerald eyes. There was only hatred and loathing… one thing that I haven't seen in Edward's eyes in so long. My betrayal made him hate me… _

_My worst fear._

"_Edward, please…" I begged, looking back and seeing the silhouette getting taller and the sickening laughter getting louder and louder with each passing second. Looking back at Edward, he began tapping his finger on his arm, looking incredibly impatient. "Please don't do this… I'm begging you… Please—"_

"_I should have known you'd take everything I gave you away. I should have known you'd break my heart but I didn't listen. Now I am. So get out of my sight. You disgust me," Edward spat, making my heart break once again at his words. _

"_Edward, please… I'm so sorry… Please—" _

"_Who's at the door, Edward?" A soft female voice asked from inside the house. Suddenly, footsteps were heard and Esme's loving face came into view, looking at Edward first before landing her eyes on me. The smile that she had shined to her son turned into a deep frown when she saw me. Her eyes turned from soft to a dark glare as she gazed upon me. "Oh no… What are _you_ doing here? You have no right to stand here. Get off of our property," Esme answered; her tone cold and unlike her. I'd never heard Esme sound so cold… Her glare was bringing chills up my spine and she advanced towards me, taking only a few steps out of the house and still staying on the porch. Since I didn't move—too much in shock from their rejection—she narrowed her eyes, grabbed a loose rock from the porch and threw it my way, missing me by a little. "I said get out of here! Get off of our property! You're no longer welcome!" _

_I never thought that Esme would throw something at someone, least of all the person who she brought into her family, but she did. My feet stood there, feeling like lead, as I stared into Esme's cold eyes. A stray tear fell from my eye when saying: "Esme… please…"_

"_I believe my mother asked you to leave," another female voice, this one a little colder, said as a blond woman stepped out of the house followed by a short pixie with black hair. Alice and Rosalie… Both of them looked distant and cold, their hands balled into fists as they stared me down. Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle began stepping out of the house as well, regarding me with a look of disgust. Emmett even turned his head away from me in disgust. Rosalie stepped towards me and, seeing as I took a small step back, she pushed me back forcefully, making me fall back on my butt and look up at her. "We don't need a traitorous bitch like you torturing us any longer. Get your betraying ass out of our lives," Rosalie said, crossing her arms and looking down at me with a murderous look. If only looks could kill, then I would have been dead right here on this spot a few minutes ago by every member of this family. _

_Edward stepped next to his sister and looked behind me, nodding to someone that I could not see at the moment. "You can take her now. We don't need her anymore," Edward said as footsteps were heard behind me. _

_Chills began crawling on my spine as someone grabbed the back of my collar and lifted me in the air slowly, making the fabric of my shirt dig into my neck and cutting off my air circulation. Choking a little, a sickening laugh was heard beside my ear and my body began to shake while trying to separate the fabric from my skin to allow some air to fill my lungs. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. _

"_You're mine… You'll always be mine. You will be until the day I decide you die… Now come on slave," James' voice said as he dragged me back towards the dark forest, letting me look at the family that I once had. _

_Suddenly, a voice began resonating in my mind. It was one that was just beginning to sound familiar, one that I had heard only a few times in the past few hours... or was it days? But it was the only voice that made me feel safe ever since James captured me. "Bella, you have to wake up," The voice of Jacob Black said, making me wonder why he would say such a thing. I was already awake… wasn't I? "Bella, wake up. Wake up… Bella… Wake up!" _

"NO!"

My body sat up roughly and my eyes shot open and looked around the room, finding myself very disoriented at the moment. The first question that popped into my mind when looking around the small wooden room is: _where am I?_ But when seeing the small ball of hay in the corner of the room, the wooden logs that formed the room and the tall Quileute man holding my shoulders softly, it reminded me that I was in the small room Jacob and I shared in James' cabin, which just happened to be in the middle of nowhere.

I was in my own personal hell… which I deserved with every fibre of my being, especially since my betrayal cost me the best family that had ever come my way.

"Bella, you're alright. Everything's alright," Jacob said, trying to soothe me. He had been my only friend since I arrived in this hell hole and he made me feel safe, even though he was James' nephew. Part of me should feel traumatized that he was related to the man torturing and traumatizing me but a larger part of me felt extremely safe because he was protecting me from the horrors of this house. "It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real."

Nodding slowly and placing my head on my sweaty forehead, I tried to get my breathing back under control. That nightmare had frightened me so much that my heart seemed to be running at a thousand miles per hour. It felt so real… although I wouldn't be surprised that it _was_ real. The Cullens must hate me by now… If I were to survive through this, I would need to find a new place to stay. With no money and no food, then it would be quite difficult but it would be necessary. No one would accept me, not after knowing that I did all of those things.

I was a traitorous bitch, simple as that.

Running my fingers through my hair, a small pain erupted in my head from the beating James had given me yesterday. Jacob had helped my wounds a little but the pain was still there. With a few bandages and pain medication, my injuries were starting to heal slowly but it had seemed that yesterday had gone by in a blur. After Jacob had explained his background to me, it felt as though my mind began to shut off and my vision began to black out. After a little while, my vision went black and it felt like I had fallen against the ball of hay but now, I was in a small comfortable bed with a slight headache and a strong beam of sunlight blinding me.

"What time is it…?" I asked in a small voice, my eyes squinting against the harsh light.

"Almost three thirty in the afternoon. You've been asleep for more than seventeen hours. I changed your bandages a few times while trying to get my uncle to leave you alone to heal," Jacob explained, standing up from the ball of hay and stretching his body slowly. Some of the hay had stayed against his clothes and he began brushing it off, looking at me with a soft smile. Had he slept on that uncomfortable hay while I stayed here in his bed…? "Don't worry, my uncle left for his work all night so you were able to recover for a while. Your injuries aren't fully healed but it won't be so bad once James starts forcing you to do the work…"

"What work…? What exactly does he want from me…?" I asked while slowly swinging my legs out of the bed and placing a hand on my forehead once more, not feeling the dizziness hitting me as profoundly as yesterday.

Jacob frowned and removed his shirt, looking away from me as he began to look through his dresser for some clean clothes. Just as Jacob's back turned to me, the door to his bedroom opened to reveal the horrible face of James, looking from his nephew to me. He looked at me for a few seconds, seeing that I was still in my bloody clothes and looked back at Jacob. "Get her cleaned and dressed. There are some clothes from the other girls' piles. Use one of those for today," James said before looking back at me with a sickening wink directed at me. "See ya soon, Bella," he said before closing the door and leaving shivers running down my spine.

Looking over at Jacob, he gave me an apologetic look and looked down at the new shirt in his hands. Wrapping my arms around myself, I found my voice and was able to ask: "What does he want from me…?" in a small voice.

Jacob began fidgeting with his shirt but kept looking me square in the eyes, trying to find the right way to say this. "James, he… When he used to take girls and bring them here, he made them work for him." Suddenly, horrible thoughts began to run through my mind as Jacob explained the situation.

"What… What kind of work…?" I asked shakily.

"My uncle… He has a business that attracts a lot of male customers…" Jacob looked down at his shirt for a few seconds and, after a deep sigh, looked back up at me sadly. "There's no easy way to put this but James owns a stripper club. And he wants you to work in it as one of his 'girls'. That's why you're here."

**Ok so you might believe that this is a rated M story and that there is going to be adultery in this but as I have said before THERE WILL NOT BE ANY KIND OF THAT! This is just a rated T story, nothing more. So anyways, what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS!**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

8


	19. Shock

**Alright so only five reviews… Could be worse but it's not really that good. Might as well let the few people who read this actually read it. Please read and review.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 18

Shock

**Alice's Point of View**

The soft pounding of rain against my window woke me from an uneasy sleep. All night long, I kept having dreams about Bella being hurt and/or killed. She kept screaming for help but my feet wouldn't move at all to help her. It was as if I was powerless to help her, which was exactly the situation we were all in. The police were trying to find this James' location but it seemed that we had nothing to take him in with. He could get out of any situation _and_ kill my sister at the same time.

That couldn't happen… Bella would get out of this safe and sound if it would kill us.

Swinging my legs out of bed, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked out at the grey sky. My mind kept reeling at what Bella could be going through right now. She must feel so alone, especially after we treated her so badly. She was probably thinking that we never wanted her again, which was the complete opposite.

We just had to show her that she belonged here, with us.

Standing up, I made my way downstairs to find the police hard at work in the living room and my sister and brother at the kitchen counter, Edward looking down at his half eaten bowl of cereal and Rosalie eating a small bowl of fruit. They both seemed hard in thought but also melancholic. I would bet fifty bucks that they both had Bella on the brain, same as me. Walking over to them, Edward looked up at me but never seemed to be able to even crack a smile anymore. Bella was his world and she was gone. But we would get her back.

Sitting down at the counter, I looked at both of them and kept my expression stern and focused, trying to be strong for all of them. "I see that you guys didn't sleep as well?" I asked softly, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and taking a bite out of it. Both of them shook their heads sadly and looked back down at their food. "Yeah, I didn't either."

"It's hard to try and get any shut eye when Bella could be badly hurt…" Edward said; his voice barely above a whisper.

There was nothing else that we could say about that. The subject was still very sore on all of us and we couldn't talk about Angela's help with the police in plain hearing range. My cell phone was still in my pocket, never leaving my sight. Angela could call at any minute and we needed to make sure that there was some way to help Bella from here.

Just as I was about to take the second bite out of my apple, the front door swung open to reveal Mom and Dad stepping inside the house, Dad holding onto Mom's waist so that she wouldn't fall off. I stood up and ran over to them, Dad sending me a soft message through his eyes to take it easy with Mom. Looking over at Mom, she smiled gently at me and placed a shaky hand on my shoulder. Even though she was back on her feet, Mom looked pale and looked quite tired. She must not have gotten much sleep last night as well.

"Are you alright, Mom? How are you feeling?" I asked softly, taking her hand slowly in mine and holding it gently.

Mom smiled softly at me and said: "I'll be alright when Bella is home… back where she belongs…" before looking at Dad and then to the police officers in the kitchen. She looked back at me and looked concerned. "Have they found anything…?" Mom asked worriedly. Shaking my head sadly, she sighed and looked at Dad sadly. "Can I go lie down…? I want to be at my fullest… well, as much as I can be… to help the police find Bella…"

Dad nodded and wrapped an arm around her slightly tighter. "Of course Esme…" he said with a slight nod.

Mom looked back at us and smiled ever so softly. "And you guys… get ready for school… Otherwise you'll be late…" she said before Dad nodded to us and brought Mom upstairs. Looking back at Edward and Rosalie, they seemed at a total lost of words. Rosalie looked at me and nodded once before standing up, grabbing her empty bowl with her free hand and walking over to the sink while Edward returned to his cereal.

Letting out a sigh, I announced that I was going to a shower and went upstairs to my room. While going towards my own bedroom, I passed by Bella's and stopped in sadness. Just looking at the room, it made my heart clench in guilt. All those things that I said and did to Bella before she was taken kept racing through my mind like a movie projector on repeat.

Closing my eyes sadly, I raced to my room and closed the door behind me, leaning against it heavily. Keeping my eyes closed, I tried to keep the tears from falling. Bella wasn't gone. We were going to make sure of that. Placing my hand on my pyjama pocket, where my cell phone lay, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, keeping a stern face while going to my closet and picking out my clothes. It took a little longer than expected, considering my mind kept roaming from picking out my clothes to thinking about Bella's situation, but after nearly forty-five minutes, I went to the bathroom, placed my cell phone on the counter and stepped into the shower.

Taking a quick shower, I stepped out and began getting dressed. After putting my make-up on, I looked at my watch and saw that it read seven fifty-four o'clock. Not bad; I still had about half an hour before school started. Grabbing my backpack from my room, Rosalie and Edward were putting on their jackets and watching me go down the stairs. Grabbing my own jacket, we all went to our designated cars and drove off to school, knowing that we wouldn't be able to focus on the work at hand.

When arriving at the school, we had about ten minutes to get to our lockers and get to class. But on the way, we were met with the principal and he looked sympathetic to us. Stopping in front of us, the principal placed his hands behind his back and looked us square in the eyes.

"We are terribly sorry for the news and we understand that, considering the situation, it's a very difficult time for you and your family, but, if there is ever anything that you need from this school or from any of the faculty here, you are more than welcome to ask for anything in our capability," the principal said sadly, looking us square in the eyes with sympathy.

It wouldn't be right to ask for some days off from school to be able to search for our sister so we simply nodded and went off to class with a last thank you to the principal. On our way there, we were met with Angela, who practically ran into us as she closed her locker and turned away from it. Luckily, Edward caught her before she could fall.

"Be careful Angela. You wouldn't want to get hurt," Rosalie said as Angela straightened up and looked us in the eyes. But her eyes looked so worn out and exhausted that it made me worry about her. "Have you gotten any sleep last night?"

"Not really, no. I was working all night on your phone," Angela said, replacing her books in her arms carefully.

Edward, Rosalie and I all looked at one another in shock and looked back at Angela, who tried to stay awake while looking at us. "And? Did you find anything that could help us find Bella?" I asked; hope radiating off of my words. If there was a way to help Bella, then we had to take every measure to do so.

Angela looked around to make sure no one was watching us and, when seeing that the coast was clear and that we were safe to talk in whispers, she leaned her head close to us and said: "Meet me at my house after school. It's not really safe to talk here," before leaning back and looking at us carefully. With a simple nod, we said our goodbyes for now and went off to class.

Throughout the entire day, my mind kept jumping to Bella and what Angela could have found. Did she really find who had the phone? Could it lead to anything or was it simply a dead end that would get Bella killed in the end? So many questions ran through my mind during the entire day that it was impossible to keep my mind in check. Even at lunch, none of us spoke. We were all on edge, even more than usual, considering that news travelled fast in this town and some of the kids at school looked at us with sympathy throughout the entire day. It was a little unnerving but we paid them no mind.

At the end of the day, Edward, Rosalie and I met up with Angela in the parking lot and drove to her house, making her garage stuff with different cars. Angela stepped out and motioned for us to follow her in. Her parents were both at work and her younger brothers still had school until four, which only gave us twenty minutes to talk. Angela brought us upstairs to her bedroom and, while Angela sat down at her desk, we sat down on her bed and tried to stay as calm as we possibly could.

"So, all night I've been working on this phone," she said, motioning the dismantled phone on her desk. We would really have to get Bella a new one if she survived through this… "It was hard to crack but I was able to get something."

Suddenly, hope began to flare through me as she smiled ever so slightly and softly at us. Rosalie stood up in a rush and practically ran over to Angela, embracing her tightly while trying not to hurt her broken arm in the process. "Thank you so much Angela! You have no idea what this means to us!" Rosalie said, happiness radiating through her voice. All of us smiled but something in Angela's slight smile made me worry.

"But there's one catch…" Angela said as Rosalie separated from our friend and looked her square in the eyes.

"What catch?" Edward asked, standing up and walking over to Angela. "Can you help us find Bella?"

"That's the thing. I was able to get a number off of the phone but when I tried tracing the calls and the texts, there was nothing. This James person must have broken the phone or something because it is not radiating any signals whatsoever," she explained sadly.

"So we basically have a number but not a place to start…" Rosalie stated, placing a hand on her nape and starting to pace around the small room. "This doesn't help us at all."

"I'm really sorry guys. I was up until four in the morning, trying to work on this, but there wasn't much that I could do. I'm just an amateur… It's a miracle that I was even able to get all of this. After supper last night, I went straight to work on this to try and help Bella but—"

"You don't need to explain yourself Angela. It shows that you worked your hardest on this and we really appreciate it. Just… we'll need to bring this to the police now. Maybe they can do something," Rosalie said, placing her good hand on the desk near the dismantled phone. My sister looked back at Angela and said: "Is there any way to put this back together?"

"Yeah but it might take a few minutes. I'm really sorry guys…" Angela said, her voice sounding so devastated because she couldn't help us any more than that.

Walking over to her, I hugged her softly and patted her back, leaning my chin against her shoulder. "You did everything that you could and we really do appreciate it. It's really the thought that counts. At least we have something that we can give to the police." Separating from the embrace, I looked into Angela's eyes and then looked over to the cell phone, which was connected to Angela's laptop. "Do you, by any chance, have the number on paper?" Angela nodded and passed me a small note with a phone number written on it. "Thanks." I said while looking down at the number. But something seemed to catch my eye when looking down at it.

It felt familiar… almost as if I've seen those numbers before.

Rosalie seemed to have noticed my sudden confusion because she looked at me and asked: "Are you alright Alice? What's the matter?" Edward looked at me worriedly and walked over to me, looking down at the piece of paper in my hand.

"I feel like I've seen this number somewhere…" was my simple remark, which was barely above a whisper. Mostly, my eyes stayed glued to the paper, trying to remember where I had seen that. It felt so familiar… but it was very distant in my mind. "But I can't remember where…"

Suddenly, as my mind tried to recollect where I had seen this number, an image entered in my mind and it made my eyes widen in recollection. I finally remembered where I'd seen this… and it was something that made me want to hurl. It couldn't be this person… No, it had to be a mistake.

"What's the matter Alice? Talk to us!" Edward said, placing a hand on my shoulder to try and get me to talk to him. Walking over to Angela's bed, I grabbed my purse, ran my hand through my purse to try and find my phone—but sadly kept finding makeup—and finally found it. Yanking it out, I opened it and began fiddling through my contact files. It had to be in here… "Will you please say something Alice? You're freaking us out over here!" Edward exclaimed just as I found what I was looking for, which made me sit down and stare at the screen.

"No way…" was my only answer when looking from the paper to the phone number in my contact list. This couldn't be the same person. There had to be some mistake. No way could this be a coincidence. "This can't be…"

"What the hell is the matter Alice?!" Rosalie asked, standing in front of me looking extremely confused and worried. Looking up at her, I passed my phone to let her see what was bugging me so much and her eyes widened as well in disbelief. "This can't be right…"

"That's what I thought," I said matter-of-factly.

"What are you guys talking about? What did you find?" Edward asked, seemingly out of the loop on this one. Rosalie looked at him and passed over the phone, showing him what my sister and I were shocked by. Just as he read who the number belonged to, he let out a shocked gasp and let his eyes open wide at the revelation. "You've got to be kidding me… It's been under our noses all this time."

"What's the matter?" Angela asked and Edward passed her the phone, letting her look at the phone before seeing her eyes bulge out and let out a gasp, just like Edward. "This isn't possible… I can't believe the person who owned this phone is…"

**So what did you think? Good? Tolerable? Bad? Let me know in some reviews.**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

9


	20. Forming a plan

**Ok so since it's always the same five people that review and read this, then it's not really that sad if I stop the chapter at this point. So read and review. **

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 19

Forming a plan

**Edward's Point of View**

Anger began to boil inside of me. This couldn't be possible. It couldn't be her. But… everything led back to her so what were we to think?

"It's impossible… She's not smart enough to put up a scheme like this. It can't be her," I said, crossing my arms and pacing to try and remove the anger that was boiling through me. My Bella had gone through so much because of _her_. This couldn't be right… "It has to be some mistake."

"Edward, you saw the same thing. The signal is originating from Forks but the phone was broken. And the number belongs to Tanya Denali. Alice has the proof," Rosalie said, looking over at me sadly. But then she turned her attention to Alice and seemed confused. "Exactly how did you end up with that number on your phone Alice? You hate Tanya more than any of us." _Not at the moment she does… _I thought to myself as Alice stood up and walked over to us and took her phone back.

Looking at the screen for a few seconds, my sister looked at the three of us and began explaining her story. "You remember that day when we arrived at school and Tanya tried to talk to us to get us into her group of friends?" she asked us. Rosalie and I both nodded and Alice continued her story. "Well, after lunch that day, Tanya and her plastic bitch squad came up to me while I was going to the bathroom and asked me to join them again. I had told them that I'm not interested but she kept insisting, even took my phone and put her phone number in my cell phone without my permission."

"But why didn't you just remove it when she did it?" I asked, waving a hand towards her and placing my arms back in a cross motion.

"Because just as I was about to delete it, Jasper walked up to me and began asking if I was alright. Apparently, when I put my phone in my pocket, it turned off so when I turned it back on, I had completely forgotten about the number. I guess I was on a sort of Jasper high at the time…" Alice continued dreamily.

"No wonder that boy has been eyeing you since you guys arrived… He's been in love ever since that day," Angela stated, placing a finger on her chin as she looked at my sister thoughtfully. "But it's a good thing that you didn't delete that number. It might be our only chance to help Bella." Just as Angela's words left her mouth, a small spark of hope began to course through me. Maybe Bella could be brought back home safe and sound… If she were to come home, then I would have to apologize and hope that she takes me back. After everything that I've said to her, it would be a miracle if she did decide to take me back. "But Tanya's never gonna tell the truth. She'll just deny everything."

"Then we'll just make her tell us," Rosalie said, her arms crossing against her chest, seeming to contemplate something in her mind.

"How so?" I asked, walking over to them and looking Rosalie deep in the eyes.

"We'll use bait. And I think there's only gonna be one kind of bait that she will want to be lured by…" Rosalie said, looking me straight in the eyes with a slight look of sympathy in them. Suddenly, it dawned on me and my eyes widened. "I'm sorry Edward but she will only want you…" How could they use me to get to Tanya when they knew that it was wrong, that faking any sort of passion for Tanya would be like trying to forget Bella? I couldn't do that… even if it was to figure out how to get Bella back. But I had to. It was to save Bella, to get her back and back in my arms where it was safe. "Please Edward, it's the only way."

Turning my hands into fists, I nodded slowly and simply listened to their plan without really paying attention at the moment. My only thought at the moment was: _I'll get you back Bella… I'll make sure of it. _

The sun was shining through the morning clouds as I sat on my bed, elbows on my knees and my hands gripped together, my knuckles under my chin. My eyes kept staring at the small rays of sunshine that shot into my bedroom, beaming down onto my carpeted floor. _Clair de Lune_ was playing in the background but it didn't affect me like it did in the past. This was one of my favourite songs but it wasn't making me smile anymore. It only brought misery. It only made me think of Bella and what I had to do to get her back…

My mind kept going over the plan that Rosalie and Alice concocted last night.

"_Tanya has been wanting to get to you for the past few months, ever since we arrived at this school. And we're guessing that she got Bella out of the way because she wants you. So we need to get her to admit this," Rosalie explained, pacing around the room and moving her fist up and down, from her chin down to her chest and vice versa. "But you've been reluctant ever since Bella's been taken—and we totally understand it, there's no one else that can understand it better than us Edward—but for this to work, you're gonna have to pretend that you've started to be interested."_

"_It's not going to be easy… I despise her, now more than ever," I stated, sitting down on one of the desk chairs Angela had in her room. Angela never said a word in this, just listened to us and approved of our actions._

"_Sadly Edward, you're gonna have to get over it, just for a little while. It's the only way for this to work," Alice said, looking at me sadly. _

_Sighing sadly, I leaned back against the chair and looked at my sisters. "What exactly do I have to do…?" was my short and melancholic answer. It was the only way to get Bella back… That was the only thing that I had to think about if this was going to work. It had to work… _

"_Tanya's not very smart so we will simply have to trick her. Honestly, the task is really not gonna be that hard. Well, alright, _you_ will have to trick her. Tomorrow, when we go to school, find her out. She'll be more than happy to see you so try to make some moves on her. Get her smitten enough that she'll follow you around like a lost puppy. That bitch wants to follow you anyways. Just tell her that you want some alone time with her or something and you know that she'll _definitely_ want to follow you anywhere you go. She knows that she'll have won… for now," Rosalie explained, sitting down next to Alice and looking at me. _

"_So… What? I just lure her to one of the empty classrooms and then what? I can't get her to confess to me. She'll know something's up and she won't want to say anything. Tanya knows that I'll want Bella back so she won't say a damn word," I answered angrily, feeling that this plan to get Tanya to confess wouldn't work. A part of me felt that this plan was going to fail and that we would never get Bella back. But I couldn't think that way. It had to work…_

_Alice walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder, getting me to move my gaze up at her. "I know that it's hard Edward, to do this while Bella's gone, but we have to do this; for her. If we want her back, we have to find out why Tanya did this," Alice explained, trying to make me push my emotions away and force myself to do this. _

_Gulping once, I nodded and looked at Rosalie to continue the plan. "What happens when I lure her to a secluded place?"_

"_We unfortunately can't help you on this one, since we both have class. You know that Mom would be pissed if she found out we missed class just to follow a hunch. So you'll need to be sneaky about this whole thing. Use your phone and put it on video. Put it on record and make her confess. Scare her any way that you can. Use force if you have to but make her tell you what she knows. Then bring it to the police. I think they'll understand if you miss some school," Rosalie explained and something about this told me that it could, in fact, work. It was true that Tanya wasn't that smart. She couldn't figure out what we were after._

_But there was one thing that bothered me. "What if she isn't the one who did it?" I asked, fidgeting with my hands a little. _

"_Hm… Good point. What if it's someone else who is doing all of this? How can we be sure? If it's not her, then she can sue us and then we'll be in even more trouble," My younger sister explained, looking from Rosalie to me and back again. _

"_Then we'll change our tactics a bit." Rosalie looked over at Angela and placed both of her hands together, in a sort of prayer motion. "Angela, I'm really sorry to ask this but we need your help again…"_

_Surprisingly, Angela nodded and placed her hands on her lap, looking at my family. "What do you need me to do?" She was so willing to help us. We all thought that, after the phone business, she was gonna try and shut us out but it seemed that Angela was willing to do whatever it takes to get Bella back. _

_Such a good friend… Bella needed that right now._

"_It's really not something big. It's just that we're gonna sit beside Tanya's table at lunch and we just need you to come up to us while we're eating and ask us if the police found anything to help Bella. Alice will be watching—discreetly, I might add—for Tanya's reactions while Edward explains to you that the police found a name and now they're doing more research. It's really simple. I have an extra period and so does Edward so I'll sneak into the music room, seeing as it's always empty these days, while Edward lures her there. You're lucky that you have two free periods tomorrow…" Rosalie stated, punching me in the shoulder softly but at the same time sisterly. _

_Nodding slowly, Rosalie and Alice kept finalising the plan while my mind nodded off a little. This was going to be hard but it was for Bella…_

This entire plan was so that we could get Bella back, the missing link in this entire family. If today worked out right, then it would be one step closer to finding her and bringing her home. I could hold Bella in my arms again… smell her beautiful strawberry and freesia scent again, see her smile again, tell her how much I loved her again… Everything could get back to normal.

Standing up, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and pictured the one thing that has kept me going all this time: Bella's smiling face. With that image in mind, I grabbed my backpack, took another deep breath and went to school to face one of the hardest school days ever.

Throughout the entire day, my mind kept reeling and trying to keep in control. Tanya shined an apparent flirty charm at me from time to time throughout the day and I would slightly smile back, as to keep the pretence up for now, but it was very difficult. Every time Tanya tried to flirt with me, my heart kept breaking. It felt so wrong to do this, to do this to Bella. She was the only girl that I love—that I could ever love—and I had to do this to her.

But when it came to lunch time, Alice and Rosalie's presence made it a little easier to do this. They knew that it was hard for me and they tried to make it simpler for me. We grabbed our food and sat at the empty table beside Tanya's. She was in ear shot and seemed to smile at me when she saw me sit behind her. Alice sat in front of me, in direct line to see Tanya's reactions, while Rosalie sat between the two of us, starting to eat her salad slowly.

Right on cue, Angela walked into the cafeteria and found us through the crowd of kids. Holding her books to her chest, she took a deep breath and walked towards our table, a worried smile on her face. Some might take it as a worry for Bella but we knew that inside, it was fear that something could go wrong.

When coming up to us, she smiled ever so slightly and sat down. "Hey guys," she said, trying to greet us cheerfully.

"Hey Angela," I responded, trying my hardest to sound somewhat happy but unable to fulfill the task fully. Luckily, no one really seemed to tell the difference. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. But…" Angela took a deep breath and looked at me, sympathy in her eyes. "Have the police found anything? Do they have any leads?"

We already informed her on the situation at hand but, to make it look real, I had to make it look real enough. Taking a deep breath, I began to retell Angela the tale. "The police found a name. James. And they also found this number that connects to the phone calls Bella's been having from him so they're trying to figure out where the calls came from and then I guess it's just to take this guy down and bring Bella home." Looking over at Alice, she was eyeing Tanya for an instant before looking at Angela and seeming sad but interested in the story. Something in her eyes told me that we had Tanya.

Angela nodded and looked down at the books in front of her, flipping the top open ever so slightly out of nervousness. "I just hope they find her soon…" Angela said before looking back to me and looking sympathetic. "Anyways… I better go and get my lunch before all the good things run out. I'll see you guys in class?" she asked while getting up and looking down at us.

With a small nod, Angela went towards the lunch line and started getting her money out to pay for her food. As for us, we ate our lunch in piece and saw Tanya leave in quite a hurry, seeming jittery. Looking over at Alice, she nodded and said: "She's definitely responsible. Tanya wouldn't stop fidgeting throughout the whole thing. Her back went completely still the minute that she heard that the police had found the phone number," with some hope in her voice. If this plan were to succeed, then we had to confront her now while she was, in better terms, a nervous wreck.

"Then we better act now before things fall apart," I responded, finishing my burger and standing up, tray in hand.

Rosalie nodded and stood up as well. "I better get into the room and get the stuff ready. Good luck Edward," my elder sister said before moving towards the classrooms.

Looking over at Alice, I went over to the garbage, threw away the remainders in my tray in the garbage and placed the tray on the metal trolley when suddenly; a small hand was placed on my shoulder and made me turn around to see Alice looking at me sadly but thoughtfully. "I know this is gonna be hard but try to think of Tanya as Bella. Imagine being with her instead of Tanya. It might make it less painful to think of it that way," my sister said, trying to give me some advice to make the pain less unbearable.

Nodding, I hugged her sideways and looked her in the eyes. "Thanks Alice," I said before walking off towards my destination, my mind set but my nerves never relaxing.

This was it; the moment where Tanya would tell us why she did what she did. But would it go according to plan? We simply had to see.

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Horrible? Tolerable? Let me know in some reviews.**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

9


	21. Finding out the truth

**Alright so here is the next chapter. Seeing as I am getting a little less reviews and reviewers every time I post, just gonna keep posting, not really bothering to see if these are good or not. Read and review for those still reading this story…**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 20

Finding out the truth

**Edward's Point of View**

My target was in sight. Tanya was fidgeting like crazy, trying to get her books out of her locker without any success, considering it kept falling out of her hand and hitting the ground with a loud thud. This was it, the time to put the rest of this plan in motion.

Walking over to her, I knelt down and began picking up Tanya's books, looking into her eyes to see her looking up at me, nervousness filling her eyes. As she looked up at me, Tanya tried to hide the stress from her eyes and stood up, holding her books tightly against her. "Hey Eddiekins; it's good to see you." Oh, how I loathed that name… She has been calling me that ever since Bella left and it made my skin boil.

Putting on a fake but believable smile, I nodded and took a step towards her, closing in the distance between us as the other kids walked off to class. As Alice said, I tried to picture my beautiful Bella instead of Tanya. Instead of Tanya's horribly hideous strawberry blond hair, it changed into Bella's luscious brown hair; Tanya's hideous eyes changed to my favourite chocolate brown orbs and Bella's beautiful face and smile that I love so much now became plastered to Tanya's face, changing Tanya completely into Bella. I knew that this was an illusion from my own mind but I never wanted it to end. My heart clenched at the sight of 'Bella' and a true smile erupted on my face.

"It's good to see you too…" I whispered in a sort of daze, trying to keep it together and remember that it was Tanya in front of me, not my Bella. "Are you alright? You seem a little out of it."

"I'm… I'm perfectly fine! Just been waiting until I get to see you again Eddie," Tanya responded, her screeching voice spoken through my Bella's mouth. It sounded wrong but the image of my Bella made it seem right. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to come with me and… maybe take the next period off. I'd like to get to know you better," I said, smiling as Tanya smiled and shifted her books in her hold, smiling a little wider than normal.

"Is that so? I knew that you'd succumb to my charms soon enough," she responded, flipping her hair. Trying to picture Bella doing this felt so wrong… My Bella was better than her, _acted_ better than her. But it had to be done if I wanted to look believable. "What made you change your mind?"

I had to remind myself that what was about to be said were just lies, that it wasn't real… _Forgive me Bella._ "You were nice to me ever since _she_ left and honestly, I'm starting to realize that you are better than Swan ever was," I began saying, cupping my hand on her cheek and moving a strand of hair away from her face. To be honest, it felt as though my hand started burning, though I knew that it was all in my head. I just felt so sick at the thought of touching her. I wanted to touch my Bella, to hold her in my arms; not this traitorous bitch. "I might have been blind before—because of God knows what she did to me—but now I see clearly."

"Do you really?" Tanya said; leaning her cheek a little into my hand and making me want to wash my hand several times with detergent. Nodding my head, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and smiled even wider. "Then prove it to me."

What the hell? It wasn't supposed to be this way. There had to be some way that I could avoid doing this, to betray Bella this way. What did Tanya want me to do…? "Anything," I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking with nervousness.

It seemed successful once again—Tanya really was as dumb as she looked…—because Tanya smirked slightly and placed a hand in mine, squeezing it softly. "Kiss me," was her only reply, which immediately turned my blood to ice. She couldn't ask me to do that. My lips only belonged to Bella and no one else. It just didn't seem right to do this to Bella.

There had to be some way that I could get out of it… Tugging on her hand slightly and with complete disgust, I said with a believable smile: "How about we go somewhere private and I can kiss you there as long as you want?" Hopefully she would buy it…

My luck apparently wasn't with me up to this point. Tanya shook her head and looked me straight in the eyes. "We can put aside that thought for a few minutes. But I want you to kiss me while there are still people around. I want them to know that you have changed and I want to feel that you've started to love me and not that Ugly Swan." As Tanya insulted my angel, I wanted to rip out her throat and feed it to the zoo animals. No one insulted my Bella and got away with it. But I couldn't express my anger now. It had to wait until later. Tanya placed her books in her locker, seeming to have forgotten all about her nerves, and placed her arms around my neck, making me want to jerk away from her touch. "Come on Eddie, kiss me. You know you want to." _That was the farthest thing from what I wanted, _I thought to myself as she brought herself closer to me, trying to force me to do her bidding.

How could I kiss her when I wanted to kiss Bella and only Bella? My heart began to race—luckily she couldn't hear or feel it at the moment—as she batted her eyelashes in an attempt to flirt with me. Bella would never do such a thing… She was more sophisticated than Tanya would ever be. If this plan were to take effect, I had to kiss Tanya Denali… There was no way out of this.

Cupping Tanya's cheeks, the only thought that raced through my mind was: _Please forgive me Bella…_ before closing my eyes and lowering my lips towards hers and placed them softly against Tanya's flavoured ones. Tanya's lips had too much gloss on them, making them slippery as she hungrily kissed me and tightened her grip around my neck, disabling me from moving around. It was a total nightmare. There was nothing I could do to stop her. And so, to make it believable that I was indeed falling for her, the only thing I could think of doing was thinking of kissing Bella; how soft her lips were against mine, the way she moved exactly in sync with me, the delicateness of her hold, the wondrous sentiment of feeling whole…

Kissing Bella felt like I was on the heavens, in paradise. It was nothing compared to this nightmare. But soon after, Tanya released her hold on me—ever so slightly, I might add—and removed her horrendous lips from mine, smirking widely. Obviously, my little show must have been believable because she was grinning like a kid on Christmas day. "Man, do you taste good… I'm glad that you finally came to your senses, Eddie," Tanya admitted, a little out of breath. On the other hand, all I wanted to do was wash my mouth with Listerine and hope that Bella will never know of my treachery.

If Bella knew what happened, then I might have lost her forever.

"I should have realized my feelings for you earlier," I lied, trying to get this nightmare to end already.

Tanya placed her hands in mine and kissed me on the lips once again, this time short and not-at-all-sweet. "Then let's go and have some privacy time. I think I want to get to know you better as well…" she purred, which made me want to shake with absolute horror. But, once again, I held the feeling inside of me until later on. Nodding, I took her hand in mine and began walking at a slightly quick pace to the music room. Tanya must have taken it as a sign that I was in a hurry because she hugged my arm closely to her, moving closer to me as we got closer to the classroom. "Where are we going Eddiekins?"

"To the music room. Being close to a piano makes me relax…" I somewhat lied. It was true that being close to a piano did make me feel somewhat whole but these days, it didn't seem to work. The only reason that I played was because Bella was my inspiration but she was gone. And until she was back in my arms, safe and sound, I would not touch a piano again. "I like it there."

"Oh, you're so romantic! I am so glad you're mine!" Tanya practically screeched in happiness, making me want to gag even more. I believe that, once we got to the music room, I would go to the nearest garbage can and throw out my entire stomach contents. Tanya didn't make anymore comments until we arrived at the dark classroom. Once arriving inside and closing the door, she held onto me even more and seemed to dig her nails inside my skin. As soon as my hand went to the lock and twisted it shut, Tanya unfortunately seemed to get even closer to me, if that were even possible. "Oh, locking the door so no one disturbs us? I like that…" she purred, making my skin crawl this time.

Yanking my arm out of her hold, I walked to the end of the room and saw one single light open in the middle of the room, illuminating only one single plastic chair. Rosalie really went all out on this one…

"What's going on Eddiekins? What are you doing?" Tanya asked; walking towards the light and letting me see her scared face. Just as Tanya entered the light and stepped towards the chair, Rosalie came out and pushed Tanya into the chair violently, making Tanya jerk the chair a little as she fell into it. "What the hell?!"

"Shut the hell up, Denali. You'll talk when we allow you to talk, got it, you traitorous bitch?" Rosalie snapped, looking down into Tanya's eyes menacingly, which made Tanya start to shake in fear. I knew that she wanted to retort but, knowing what we knew about her, she was scared to bits. "So, you're gonna answer every single question we ask _with_ every bit of the truth or things will go badly. Understand?"

Tanya nodded shakily and looked at me. "You just used me! You made me think that you loved me but you never did, right?! You just played me to get to Ugly Slutty Swan, didn't you?!" Tanya retorted, making my hands ball into fists. How dare she talk about Bella that way?!

Advancing towards her, Rosalie placed her free hand against my chest, trying to stop me from pouncing on Tanya's sitting but shaking form. "Don't you _ever_ say that about my Bella again! Do you hear me?!" I yelled, trying ever so slightly to fight my sister but, even with one arm, she's quite strong.

"Easy there Edward…" Rosalie soothed, pushing me back slightly so I wasn't so close to my enemy now. After a few seconds of calming down, I stepped back but never removed my gaze from Tanya. "At least you brought her here… That's all that matters." Rosalie gave me a look that told me that I had to put my phone on recording without Tanya knowing about it. Rosalie stepped over to Tanya, making her look at her and not at what I was doing. Putting my phone in my pocket, camera looking at Tanya, Rosalie stepped to Tanya's side, putting her hand on the back of Tanya's seat and looked down at her. "So now, you're gonna start answering our questions whether you like it or not, got it Tanya?"

But Tanya never looked away from me. "You kissed me… I actually believed that you liked me… But it was all a lie!" Rosalie looked at me, shocked to hear this but Tanya continued on. "I wanted you Edward but you keep going after that stupid bitch! What does she have that I don't?!"

"She has self respect, not like you! Bella's sophisticated, smart, beautiful and kind, which you'll never be!" I explained, clenching my fists at my side. Rosalie looked at me in shock but I diverted my eyes away from her. It was too painful to know that I basically cheated on Bella with… _Tanya_. Walking up to Tanya, I placed both of my hands on the back of the chair, mere inches from Tanya's neck, and looked her dead in the eyes. "I don't feel sorry about what I did to you. You took the one person that I love, that we all love, and she might be getting raped at this very moment because of you. Now you are going to tell us what it is that you did to get James involved in all of this or you're going to regret that you ever lived. Got it?" With every word that escaped my lips, more venom spewed from my tongue, getting all of the pent up anger that Tanya made me feel only moments ago out.

Tanya began quivering even more in her chair, looking up at me. "You're bluffing…" she whispered frighteningly, afraid of what might happen to her, seeing as Tanya only thought about herself and no one else.

"Am I? Let's see, James likes girls so maybe he would exchange my Bella for you. In a maximum of five days, you'd be dead and out of our hair, seeing as that is what you wanted Bella to go through!" Tanya's eyes widened at this sudden statement and her shaking began to worsen, touching my hands as she shook. "Oh, didn't you know? Yeah, if we don't find Bella in the next three days, she'll die and it'll be all because of you. We know that you called James in the first place so now, my sister is going to ask you questions and you will answer them truthfully. Do you understand us?" It might have been harsh, what I had said to Tanya about the exchange, but it had to be said to break her.

And it worked.

Tanya shook and a few tears started to form on her fake face. "Please don't tell anyone… I just wanted you… That's all…" she mumbled, more tears falling down her face. "I didn't mean to—"

"Oh, save it Denali. We all know that you meant it. The question is: how did you do it? Where did you get James' number?" Rosalie asked, looking down at Tanya expectantly.

Tanya seemed to hesitate at first but then lowered her face and began speaking. "I was sick and tired of watching her walk all over you… and seeing you so in love with her. It made me sick. I guess I was just jealous. And it made me mad that I couldn't get you. So I looked around… on the internet, in the newspaper, anything that could help me in getting rid of her, at least for a little while. I tried to get her expelled but nothing I could come up with would make a difference.

"But, one day, a calling card appeared on my bed. It seemed awfully normal so I picked it up and called the number. It was James and he said that he could get her out of the picture for a while. But he never specified how long 'a while' was. So, me being me, I agreed. But I honestly didn't know that he was gonna do that to her… I just wanted you all to myself that I wasn't thinking at all.

"James said that he was gonna just scare Ugl—I mean Bella and get her away from you. But he said that he wanted my phone. I didn't ask questions, so I just gave it to him, knowing that you'd be all mine soon. Bella would be out of the picture soon. And, day by day, she got away from you and I actually enjoyed seeing her suffer… And then, when she was gone and out of the picture, all I saw was you. That's why I approached you right when we heard that Bella was gone. The thought that you would soon be going to be all mine soon made me ecstatic. But then you said today that the police figured out the number that was used to scare Bella and it got me freaking out because it'll lead to me…" Tanya finished, putting her face in her hands and sobbing noisily.

Rosalie and I looked at one another and my body let itself lean back, my eyes now turning back to Tanya's heaving form. Rosalie looked down at Tanya and placed her hand down onto the back of the chair once more. "Do you still have that card?" my elder sister asked, trying to sound as calm as possible but we were both fuming. Tanya's jealousy might get one of our family members killed… We'd have to bring Tanya to the police after this good cop/bad cop thing was done. There was no other way. As Tanya hesitated in answering, Rosalie sighed and tried something else to get Tanya to confess. "If you want to try and at least do something right in this, then you need to give us that card. I'm not ready to lose my sister so you better give us that car Tanya."

Tanya looked up at Rosalie and actually looked defeated, for once. Running through her flashy pink bag, Tanya produced a white calling card out of her purse and handed it shakily to Rosalie, letting my big sister take it, look at it to make sure it was the right one and place it in her pocket. Nodding over to Rosalie, I went to open the lights and lit up the room, seeing all of the empty space surrounding Tanya and Rosalie. Tanya was still sobbing but there wasn't much that we could do about that now. She had confessed and that was really all that we were looking for. Looking back at Tanya's form as Rosalie and I walked towards the door, I began to feel some sort of pity for her.

Sighing, I walked over to Tanya and crouched down, looking at her. Tanya looked up at me sadly and kept her gaze with mine. "What do you want…?" she asked coldly but shakily.

"What you did was unforgivable and horrible, and when this is all over, don't expect any of us to even sneak a glance at you. But I get why you did what you did. You wanted someone to love you but you can't do that. If you want someone to love you for you, you have to earn it and make him want you, not the other way around," I said, standing up and looking down at her. "When we get Bella back, you stay away from all of us."

And with that, I walked out of the room with Rosalie, going towards the parking lot for us to calm down a little. But along the way, Rosalie stated: "I can't believe you kissed _her_…" which made my blood run cold at the thought of what I did. "Of all people—"

"I had to get her to believe me… I did it for Bella," was my only respond and, with that, we didn't speak until we arrived outside and began planning our next move: telling the police.

_We're one step closer to get you Bella… You _will_ be back with me soon, I promise._

**Let's just get right to the chase. Good? Bad? Let me know what you thought in some reviews for those still reading this.**

**Mortal-v.a-twicharmed20**

11


	22. A dirty job to do

**Alright so, first off, sorry for the slightly long wait for the update. I had a bit of trouble writing this one. But trust me, I finished it and am ready for the next one. Second, I have a VERY important author's note to present to you all at the end of this chapter so PLEASE READ IT. It's quite important. So, without further ado, please READ AND REVIEW for those reading this.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 21

A dirty job to do

**Bella's Point of View**

The drumming of the car driving along the road was the only thing that kept me sane. My body kept shaking at the thought of where James was taking us. He had bound my hands with a metal chain that was linked to the floor of the car, disabling me to get away. With a jacket placed over me, long enough to hide my wrists, no one could see what he had done… that, and it didn't help that the windows were all tinted. Looking over at Jacob in the seat beside, he was only attached at the ankle, probably because he was used to this more than me. James didn't think that he would get away so easily.

My mind kept recalling the discussion Jacob and I had only hours ago when he had explained to me James' true intentions.

"_Jacob, I can't be like that… I can't be turned into something like that… Please don't make me do this…" I had begged, standing up and walking over to him, tears threatening to fall out of my tired eyes. James couldn't make me do this. I wasn't like that…_

_I wasn't a stripper or anything else that he had in mind._

"_I know Bella… But there's not much that I can do. James has been hell bent on getting you for days now that he will do what he wants. No one can change his mind…" Jacob said sadly, placing his hands on my shoulders, trying to get me to calm down. "He'll make you dance and give the customers what they want, even if it is horribly wrong."_

"_But I can't dance… and I can't do those sorts of things…" I replied, my breath coming in short gasps now. It was extremely difficult to let in air through my lungs at the moment. "I trip over any flat surface… I won't be any use to him… Singing is the only thing I can do and that's not what he wants…"_

"_How well can you sing?" Jacob asked, curiosity filling his every word. _

_Placing a shaky hand on my nape, I looked up at him and tried to stay centered. Hearing this news was about to break me completely. I was taken just to become a stripper… and I could barely do that. "I don't know… Pretty well I suppose," was my only answer while staring down into his eyes. _

_Jacob suddenly smiled as he began thinking of something and looked me dead in the eyes. "Then that just might help you stay alive…" My confused eyes must have told him that I had no clue what he was saying. What did he mean, keep me alive? What would happen to me in the long run? Would James kill me because I couldn't dance or was it because of something else that he would kill me? But Jacob simply shook his head and brought me in a soft embrace, patting my back a few times before letting me go. "Don't worry Bella. I won't let you end up like those other girls. You'll be safe and you _will_ go back to your family in the end. I promise."_

Part of me tried to believe him. But the other part of me felt terrified. How did the other girls end up? Jacob was too afraid to tell me anything about them but he said he would protect me… Should I believe him? Should my heart actually let him in to feel safe? In a way, it felt right to trust him… He didn't seem to be at all like his uncle.

Maybe he could be my salvation…

The sun was on the verge of disappearing beyond the horizon when we arrived to a large nightclub named 'The Joint'. Typical name for a strip club but just the thought of that name shook me to the bone. James undid my bonds but I wasn't free for long. When stepping out of the car, he bound my hands with a pair of flex cuffs and began dragging me inside. Jacob could only procure me a skimpy jean skirt with a small tank top—apparently, James didn't allow the girls he kidnapped to wear anything but these sorts of garments—so it was slightly chilly outside, making goose bumps run along my skin.

James dragged me inside, making me trip over my own feet from time to time, which upset him even more. "Try keeping up Swan! It's pathetic to see you so weak!" he retaliated, lifting me up by the collar of my neck and choking me slightly as he walked into the back of the club and threw me against one of the far walls. Coughing a little, I placed my bound hands against my neck and tried to breathe normally as Jacob crouched beside me and looked at me worriedly. "Jacob, go to your station. I'll get her dressed and in costume…"

My eyes widened at this news. _He _would be dressing me?! No… This couldn't happen.

Jacob stood up and looked at his uncle, defiance in his eyes for just a tiny moment. "James, I think that I better do it. It's her first time here. We wouldn't want to scare her," Jacob said, trying to sound firm. He really was trying to protect me… "And besides, we can't get her dressed in a dancer's costume."

James crossed his arms, rage starting to form in his features. "And why should I let you tell me what to do? She will dance and she will follow the instructions I give her," James ordered, looking over at me.

"Because, if you send her out there, you'll lose customers because she can't dance. Apparently, Bella's a klutz," Jacob admitted, looking down at me sympathetically.

James, on the other hand, seemed to be fuming. Obviously, the fact that I couldn't dance didn't appeal to him. "That's very unfortunate," was his only response as James walked up to me and grabbed my collar, lifting me up—choking me at the same time, once again—and staring into my eyes. "Seeing as you are worthless as you look, there's not much else that I can do. You'd probably chase the customers away if you served their drinks and, as clumsy as you are, you'd spill their drinks all over them," James said, pushing me against the wall and pinning me against the wall with the weight of his arm. Seeing as he weighed a lot more than me, he was blocking my airways.

"James, take it easy with her. You'll hurt her and she won't be able to get you your money," Jacob said, trying to get James off of me. Jacob really _was_ trying to help me. Walking over to us, he placed a hand on James' shoulder and looked at him. "Look, we'll just get Heidi and Jane to get her some clothes and she should be fine in a few minutes."

James looked at his nephew, still keeping his tight grip upon me, and sighed after a few seconds. James' hand loosened around my neck until he fully released me, letting me fall on my feet. One of my hands went up to my neck as I began coughing for air, trying to fill my lungs as much as possible. James looked me up and down, trying to determine if making me one of his singers really was the best solution. As he sighed, it indicated that he had no choice but to make me one of them.

"Alright, get Heidi and Jane to clothe her. I want her out and on stage in ten minutes," James said, walking towards the door. Just as he was about to exit, he looked me over and smirked, never taking his eyes off of me. "See you soon, sweetheart," he said before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Shivers ran down my spine as I sat on the chair beside me, trying to calm myself down. Jacob came over to me, lifted my chin up slightly and inspected my neck. "I don't think you'll bruise…" he stated, running his fingers ever so softly on my skin, which made me slightly recoil at his touch. "I'm really sorry about James. I'm trying to get him to leave you alone but it's difficult. His mind is set."

"What is going to happen to me…? I'm not like that… I really can't become like that… I didn't protect my family to become this!" I exclaimed, putting my face in my hands and holding back the tears that wanted to spill.

Jacob wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him, stroking my back softly. That simple gesture made me feel slightly better but my fear never left me. "Everything will be alright, Bella. James wants the singers on stage and that's it so you won't get any of that action. You're going to be alright Bella. Nothing will happen to you. I promise," Jacob swore, making me feeling ever so slightly better but not by much. Nothing could make me feel alright now. Jacob lifted me softly to my feet, keeping a steady hand against mine, and looked me in the eyes. "Come on, I'll take you to Heidi and Jane. It will be quicker if we get this over now."

Heidi and Jane had been kind to me… well, Heidi was more than Jane. Jane seemed to be resentful towards me—or something like that—for some reason unknown to me. But she did help me prepare with a fake smile on her face. They were both prepared in dancer clothes—obviously, James had taken them too but they seemed to want to stay out of their own free will. I felt sorry for them—which was completely different from mine. Luckily, my clothes weren't as revealing as Heidi's or Jane's. My suit consisted of a V shaped silver spaghetti strapped tank top and a small jean mini skirt. It seemed very revealing but there was nothing that I could do about it. It was either wear this or to get killed—or so I assumed—sooner than later. Heidi put some makeup on my face as Jane walked off in her dancer's bikini outfit.

It made my stomach turn in knots when looking at Heidi and Jane, at how they _wanted_ to be here, while I was trying to escape. James was cruel and a monster; someone who should not deserve to live and do this to people. And those who wanted to work for him… to be _happy_ to do this for him… it just made me sick.

Heidi walked me over to the back of the stage, away from the men's eyes, and looked me over. "You should be fine. As long as you can do your job, there shouldn't be anything wrong," she stated before walking off towards her own dressing room to finish getting ready. Heidi and Jane had applied some makeup to my skin, simply to hide the bruises and scars, but that was it. There wasn't much around the eyes or even lipstick, which I was grateful for. It simply reminded me of all the times Alice forced me to be her 'Bella Barbie', as she called me when she was dressing me up… The memory brought horrible pain to my heart. Even though I was repulsed by the idea of shopping or anything of the sort, it felt good to spend time with Alice, doing something that made her happy. Now, we'll never get to do that again.

Just as I was about to walk towards the stage, Jacob came up to me, placing a soft hand on my shoulder and letting me look at him. "I know that this must be repulsing for you but you really do look nice in that outfit," he commented with a soft and truthful smile, not in any way trying to gain any benefit from this.

A small blush came to my lips, knowing that it was something that Edward would say if he did. Nodding, I mouthed a small: "Thank you," and looked up at him.

Jacob placed both of his hands on my shoulders, in a way forcing me to look in his eyes. Just the movement made me cringe, thinking the worse, but he rubbed soothing circles with his thumbs and tried to calm me. "Alright, this is going to be scary but trust me, once you start it, it'll be fine. It's not something pleasant, I know but it's better than what he could have planned for you. Just think of something happy and go along with that. You'll have to move around a little as you sing—you know, wave your hips a bit from left to right and move your arms as well—but other than that, it's just singing. Nothing will happen to you. I promise," Jacob swore, looking at me so intensely that it scared me a little but he was helping me. He was trying to help me through this.

Nodding, he continued with his instructions. "Ok, so the songs James picks are kind of upbeat and, sometimes, a little too sexual but, since I have control of the music, I'll simply pick songs that you might know. If you don't know the words or you forget some, just look ahead of you and you'll see a screen, just like a karaoke bar. So you can look at that if you forget something." Nodding once again, Jacob handed me a wireless microphone and hugged me once. "I better get to my post but don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine. Just sing a few songs and in a few hours, you'll be done for the day." With that said, he ran towards his DJ post towards the East side wall of the room and began working.

As for me, it seemed as though my heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. This wasn't like singing at the karaoke bar with the Cullens. It was, in a way, a life or death situation. If I didn't sing or didn't sing well, my life was over—literally. James wouldn't spare me if I messed up.

But Jacob said I had to think of something happy… It may not have to be something but maybe someone that made me happy. Closing my eyes, I began imagining my beautiful Edward, smiling as he always was when we were together. I imagined the Cullens, all gathered together with their smiling faces looking down at me.

If I could imagine them like that—imagine the people in the audience to resemble the Cullens—then I could do this.

Opening my eyes, I heard the music beginning to sound through the room, indicating my cue. The song was _Dance Again_ by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, one of the songs that I used to listen very often and so I knew the words very well. Jacob was singing Pitbull's lines while I walked onto the stage, facing the large crowd of men, all gawking at me with hunger in their eyes. It made me sick to look at them. But I had to place my sickness aside and get through this, for the Cullens who were probably glad that I was gone…

And so, to remove the sickness that kept building inside of me, I did one of the things that Jacob instructed me to do: my mind imagined each and every man looking at me as one of the Cullens.

As Jacob finished his part, I began singing, a bit of nervousness entering my voice while singing. Luckily, each member of the 'Cullens' didn't seem to notice. They were all transfixed in my performance. Looking over at Jacob, he was smiling reassuringly while nodding his head once. Obviously, I was doing it right. While singing, my eyes wandered around the room until they detected James in the far corner, looking over at me while leaning against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest.

With the cruel smile on his face, it proved that I was doing well. Otherwise, he wouldn't be smiling this way.

I would get to keep living.

The night passed at the same rhythm. Jacob kept playing songs that I had heard in the past and so it was simple to sing them. James kept smiling at me, sometimes making my skin crawl while being on stage but I tried to hide it as well as can possibly be. Throughout the night, my mind kept imagining the men as the Cullens, making me smile a real smile at the thought that they would be safe. And with that smile on my face, the men in the audience actually believed that I wanted to sing for them, which was the complete opposite. James had given me a few breaks during the night but it was still an exhausting job to sing like that continuously. Now I knew how pop stars felt…

At the end of the night—which basically meant at two o'clock in the morning—my eyes were almost falling on their own. The last of the men left the club and James began locking the place up as Jacob walked over to me and led me to the dressing room, placing a hand delicately in the middle of my back. To be honest, my mind didn't really comprehend where he was taking me but it was better than to be under James' gaze.

"You did great out there. They totally bought that you wanted to sing for them and they wanted to hear more from you. James looked extremely pleased," Jacob explained, smiling down at me reassuringly as we entered the dressing room and let me sit down on the couch. It felt so comfortable that I wanted to simply pass out on this couch and rest for an eternity. Jacob walked over to a dresser and pulled out some fresh clothes before walking back over to me, kneeling in front of me and placing them on my lap. "Hey, come on," Jacob said soothingly, shaking my shoulder slightly as my eyes began falling slowly, "you just need to get changed and we can go back to the cabin to get some rest. James won't bother you tonight."

"He won't…?" I asked, exhaustion filling my voice as my hands absentmindedly went to the clothes on my lap and looked into Jacob's eyes. He nodded and I slowly stood up, trying to stay on my feet as I looked down at him and smiled ever so slightly. "Then let's go back… I can't stand to be here anymore for tonight…" was my only response before going to get changed quickly and stepping out, only to find James and Jacob standing beside one another.

James smirked at me and walked over to me, grabbing my hands slightly roughly and binding them together with the handcuffs from before. "Great work out there toots. Got a bunch load of money from your performance so, you'll be doing this every night until I am done with you," James hooked a chain onto the small handcuff link and looked me in the eyes with the sickest look I've seen on a man. His next words made my skin crawl and my heart begin to race, forcing me wide awake in fear, "which, trust me, won't be for very long…"

With James' cackling laugh filling the room, he dragged me out of the club and onto the cold night. But even as he pushed me into his car and drove off towards the cabin, my body never stopped shaking. Jacob kept glancing over at me, wondering if I was alright but the truth was that I would never be alright again.

I would never be alright again because this man would probably finish me off before I could get better…

**VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Ok so I know that this chapter might not have been the best but it will get better, believe me. But on a better note, I have a question to ask. It has come to my attention that this story has about ten chapters left… that is, if you guys want A SEQUEL. This question is going to be put up to a vote. I know that normally, these votes get me a few reviews but I really want to know your opinions. So here is the question: DO YOU WANT A SEQUEL TO THIS STORY OR NOT? Whatever your answer will be, I will put it up to you guys. If yes, then I'll finish Captured the way that I think it would end nicely and then start the sequel but if not, then I'll end it the other way that I thought it would end (if it were to have no sequel, which probably just made no absolute sense but oh well). So PLEASE MAKE YOUR DECISION AND VOTE! I want to know what you all think and it would help if I had some opinion on this. **

**SO VOTE PEOPLE AND REVIEW ON THIS CHAPTER. **

**Mortal-paralight20**

**(PS: for those who don't know, I'm still mortal-v.a-twicharmed20 (some of you know me as Bellacullenswan17) but under a different name)**

11


	23. The detective

**Alright so short chapter for small reviews. I was really disappointed to only find three people voting for the sequel and the chapter. Quite disappointing indeed… So just READ AND REVIEW I suppose… Nothing else to say about this.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 22

The detective

**Edward's Point of View**

The minute that the last bell rang, Alice, Rosalie, Angela and I all drove to my house, eager to give the information to the police and delve into the location of my Bella's kidnapper. Angela was a little hesitant on coming, afraid that she might get into trouble, but we assured her that there would be none coming her way. Happiness and anxiety filled through me; happiness because of the fact that we would be able to get Bella before the five day deadline but anxiety because Tanya might be lying to us. Also, the anxiety never left me because I had betrayed Bella in that one kiss.

Tanya shouldn't have made me do that… My lips only belonged to Bella and her alone, yet I kissed _Tanya Denali_. The most repulsing thing anyone could do and I had just done it. It wouldn't be shocking if Bella never trusted me ever again, that is if we found her. But it seemed as though we got the good information about James, so we would be able to find him soon.

After a few minutes, we all arrived one after the other in the driveway, all parking our cars and jumping out of them in a hurry, gathering together in a small circle.

"Alright, so how do we handle this? The police isn't gonna be happy that we withheld information from them," Rosalie stated, placing her free hand in her pocket and looking over at us. "And Mom and Dad _certainly_ won't be happy with us."

"Well, we're gonna get in trouble anyways. So might as well give them what we have and then suffer the punishment later on," Alice replied, crossing her arms and dancing from one foot to the other in anxiety. Obviously, my sister was dreading the consequences of our actions now.

"Don't worry Alice. Mom and Dad might go easy on us because we got information that may be useful to the police. But Angela is probably gonna have some explaining to do about the phone…" I stated, looking over at Angela, who was holding my Bella's semi broken phone. Apparently, Angela had tried to reconfigure it during her free period today but she hadn't been able to do it. Nevertheless, it was the effort that counted. We would all chip in and try to get Bella a new phone when she was returned to us. Looking over at the house, a deep sigh escaped my lips before my gaze returned to my family and Angela. "Might as well get this over with… The quicker we give our side of the story to the police, the sooner Bella will be back with us."

Everyone nodded and we all took deep breaths before venturing off to the front door, entering the house to find the police still hard at work while Mom and Dad were at the kitchen counter, discussing something while looking down at some papers.

Walking over to them, my eyes went down to the papers on the counter. They were hospital papers, mainly female records. Looking over at the pictures on the records, a familiar feeling coursed through me. I had seen those girls before…

"Those are the girls, the ones who had been murdered by James, right?" I asked Dad, looking over at him as Alice and Rosalie stood behind me, Angela just a little farther away. Looking back at her through the corner of my eye, she seemed to fidget a lot, as if she felt more afraid than the rest of us.

Dad nodded over to us and looked up from the papers. "The police wanted me to try and find an M.O. in these cases but they are all the same. James hasn't diverted from his methods since the first attack. I can't seem to find a specific detail that could lead us to him," Dad explained, disappointment forcing its way into his words. He didn't like being stuck like this, not even when he was at work. And to think that this was because of Bella, he was trying even harder to find James' motives. "And the police can't seem to find any location on James, so we are all coming up dry on this case."

"Well…" Alice began, putting both of her hands in her pockets as she looked over to our parents.

Mom turned around slowly, trying not to hurt herself in the process, and looked over at her youngest daughter. "Yes Alice…? What is it…?" she asked, her soft eyes gazing down into her daughter's own. Looking over at Alice, she tried to compose herself long enough to explain the situation to our parents. Mom and Dad both leaned forward, interested by what Alice may say to them. "Is there something that you wish for us to know…?"

"We dug up some information that can help us find Bella," Alice finally said, looking over at me for a confirmation Janet seemed to overhear our conversation and walked over to us, leaving the rest of her officers to continue their work. Janet stood behind my parents, watching us all with curious eyes as Alice spoke once again. "But please don't be mad about what we tell you. We honestly thought that we were acting correctly," Alice justified, looking at our mother sympathetically as she began to explain what we had discovered: from the beginning of Rosalie and Alice's spying in Bella's room to handing the phone over to Angela to the interview with Tanya from earlier today. Mom, Dad and Janet were all shocked at our discoveries but we did act in the best interest.

"You kept important information from the police. You shouldn't have done that," Janet scolded, walking over to us and looking us all down harshly. "You should have handed everything over when this case was opened."

"We know, but we thought that we could help a little while you guys were hard at work. And with what we found, I think that we can really nail this guy and—"

"Alice, we know that your intentions were for the best but to be honest, you really should have given this information to the police. They know what they're doing," Dad said sadly, standing slowly and walking over to us, placing a hand on both my shoulder and Alice's. "But, the past is the past. Even if you should have given them what you found, we're glad that you advanced on your own."

"Can you give us the card that she gave you? We'll analyze the data and see what we can do," Janet asked, extending her hand towards Alice. Alice handed her the business card and Janet looked it over. "Hm… There's only his name and a phone number but we can cross run this and see what it gives us." Janet went over to the police officers and gave the card to them, looking back over to us as the police began to be hard at work on figuring out the location to the phone number. Janet walked over to us and looked us all one by one, finally landing her eyes on me. "I don't condone what you all did behind our backs but…" She offered us a small smile before speaking again, "I've got to say, well done." Janet looked over to Angela and smiled as well, surprising Angela by the gesture. "And a good job to you, Angela. We don't see in Forks many people who can crack such a complicated piece of software at such a young age."

Angela smiled softly at this compliment and looked away slightly as her cheeks burned with a slight blush. A small chuckle escaped my lips when seeing her but I patted her softly on the back in reassurance and looked back at Janet. "We really are sorry that we kept this but, with what we found, I think that we are one step closer to getting Bella back, right?"

Janet nodded and placed her hands behind her back, looking over at us. "As long as we can find something on the phone number you gave us, then we should be one step closer than we were on our last case," she admitted, smiling over to us as she walked over to the police officers, leaving us with our parents.

Mom began standing up slowly, slightly flinching as her side began hurting with the movement, but was able to stand her ground and looked over at me and my siblings. Her soft, loving eyes looked deep into our own for a few seconds before a loving smile made its way onto her face and she wrapped her arms around all three of us as best as possible.

"I'm so proud of all of you… doing all of this on your own and finding what you did…" Mom said, separating from the hug after a few seconds and then looking us one after the other. "Although keeping that from the police is wrong… I'm very proud of all of you…" She placed a soft hand on each of our cheeks and then looked over to Angela, who had remained silent for now on the entire matter. "And Angela… we'd like to thank you for all of the effort that you have done to help my daughter… It really will help us get her back and we really do want to thank you… We'll be forever in your dept…"

Angela smiled softly and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, looking over to our mother. "It really was nothing… I was just glad that I could help. I really do hope that what we found can help get Bella back," Angela stated, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"I'm sure we will find something…" Mom stated, smiling softly to all of us. She motioned over to the kitchen table and closed her eyes, never taking that smile off of her face. "Come… take a seat and I'll—"

"You mean _I _will get them some food," Dad retaliated, smiling softly to his wife.

Mom chuckled softly and looked over to Dad with a slight smile. "Yes… of course Carlisle…" She looked back over to us and smiled once more. "My husband will get you something to eat and drink…"

"Thanks Mom and Dad," I said, smiling over to them while we all sat down at the table and looked over at the others, seeing them release their tensions after all this time.

Dad offered us some fruits and crackers while we watched the police try and process the information we gave them through their computers. After a few hours, while Angela and nearly all of the Cullens were having dinner, one of the male officers shouted: "We've got something!" and we all looked over to them.

I stood up and walked over to the police officers, trying to see what they found. "What is it? What did you find?"

The male police officer pointed to his computer screen to an internet page of a stripper club named 'The Joint'. It wasn't an official page, only a fan page where people could speak about different things. Apparently, people wanted to know where they could find a good stripper joint. There weren't any pictures but there was, luckily, an address! This place was situated in Tacoma, Washington.

"We've got him…" Janet said with a smirk on her face.

"Who knew that we could easily find his place on a blog," Alice said, walking over to us as she looked over at the computer screen with us.

"What matters is that we have him," Rosalie stated, smiling as she followed Alice's trail with Angela behind her.

"But how can we get the proof?" I asked, looking over to Janet. She seemed to frown at the mention of that. We didn't have any proof—beside the text messages that Bella received on her phone—that James really took Bella. She could have followed him with her own free will, which was very unlikely. So we couldn't charge him for anything. "How can we take him down?"

Janet began thinking about the situation and started pacing around the room, placing her finger to her chin as she thought the situation through. "We'll need inside evidence. But we can't get that without having someone go inside," she stated, looking over at her police officers to see who could go. But, looking over at them, none of them seemed qualified enough to do some detective undercover searches. "We'll need to call someone in but who knows how long that will take…"

Dad seemed to have some epiphany just now and his eyes lit up with realization. "I believe that I know someone who can be here soon," Dad said, going to his medical bag and fishing out a little black book, which he began flipping through to find the number that he was looking for. As he found his answer, he let out a 'aha!' and smiled.

"What'd you find, Dad?" Rosalie asked, taking a few steps toward him.

"The number I need. I know that he'll come to our aid. He does owe me a favour for saving one of his friends' life," Dad said before making his way over to the phone on the kitchen counter and making his phone call, speaking in small sentences that it was impossible to know who he was referring to. "Hello old friend, I need your help… Yes that's right… So you've heard… So you'll help us? That's fantastic… As soon as you can, that would be appreciated… You still know your—Alright then, we'll see you soon then…" Dad finished with a small smile and hung up the phone, looking over at Janet with a smile. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

"May I know who it is that you just called?" Janet asked, walking over to Dad and looking him in the eyes.

"He's an old friend of mine that I knew from school. One of the greatest detectives I know and he loves to work in undercover missions. Sadly, we haven't spoken in years but he still remembers me, so that must be good news for us. And, he owes us a dept…" Dad said, his voice turning melancholic at that last statement. Something must have happened between them that severed their bond all those years ago.

Janet nodded and walked over to her officers, returning to her work but it seemed that the lack of information on this mysterious detective bothered her. Frankly, it was the same for me.

After a few minutes of pacing and continuous questions to our father that were never answered, we finally heard a knock at the door, which made us all look at the front door. Dad looked at Mom with a soft smile and walked over to the door, opening it slowly to reveal a tall man with dark brown hair that went to his shirt collar and light green eyes.

"Hello Carlisle. What a pleasure to see you after all this time," the man said with a soft but sad smile. He seemed to have a slight Spanish accent when he spoke. Who was he…?

Dad returned the gesture and nodded slowly. "My sentiments exactly, Eleazar. Please, come on in."

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**Mortal-paralight20**

9


	24. Eleazar

**Alright so here is the next chapter. Short and sweet considering that people don't review as much. But next chapter should be longer because I wanted to write that next chapter for a long time. So here it is. READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 23

Eleazar

**Edward's Point of View**

"Eleazar?! As in, Tanya's father?! He's the great detective?!" I exclaimed, looking over to my father in disbelief. This couldn't happen…

"Yes Edward, this is exactly the man you are referring to," Dad explained, his eyes turning serious as he scrutinized my exclamation. Anger began to boil in me as my eyes focused on the man in front of me. Because of his daughter, my beloved was gone. And Dad _dared_ to let him in the house?

"If you remember what we just talked about a few hours, you'll remember that it was _Tanya _who brought James here to take Bella away from us," I said, my anger flooding into my voice with every word.

Eleazar bowed his head slightly and, after my father moved aside to let our guest enter the house, walked inside, moving closer to me with each step. "I understand your reason to be angry with me and my daughter and I do apologize for what my daughter has done. What Tanya has done is unforgivable and cruel and she explained to me what she's done and we know that there will be dire consequences for her in the near future. But I would like to make amends for what she has done by trying to find your adoptive daughter," he explained, looking at all of us sadly. Some part of me did want to believe him and try to apologize for my outburst but, for the moment, my anger towards his daughter outweighed the need to apologize.

"How can you assume that we trust you to find her?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Edward!" Mom scolded, trying to sound tough and motherly but ended up wincing as she said my name. "Be polite with our guest…!"

"I'm trying Mom but his daughter is the reason the police is here! She's the reason why Rosalie got in her car accident, why Alice got suspended—even for a day—and why you were shot! She's the reason why Bella is missing! How can you even ask me to trust this man and find my Bella after everything's that happened?!" I exclaimed, looking over to my mother who seemed to have calmed ever so slightly after the facts that were just spoken.

"Because, Edward, he is not Tanya. He is trying to help us find Bella and make things right," Dad said, placing his hands on Mom's shoulders and looking at me sternly but sadly. After my moment of hesitation, Dad sighed and tried another tactic. "Edward, I know this man very well and I know what he is capable of. We might not have kept contact for a few years but, I can assure you, he's a very talented detective and can find Bella. I know it…"

Janet walked over to us and looked over Eleazar carefully. "I remember you. We did a case once a few years ago on a missing child in Nebraska. You were a great help," Janet complimented, offering her his hand to shake.

Eleazar shook her hand with a slight smile and nodded. "I remember you, officer. That case had been a difficult one, Janet," Eleazar replied, letting go of the officer's hand and looking back to Carlisle. "You give me too much praise, dear friend."

"It's a praise well deserved, Eleazar," Dad replied back with a soft smile.

Janet turned her attention to me and placed a hand on my shoulder softly. "Edward, you can trust him. He really is one of the best that we have seen. He'll be able to find her and we can get the proof that we need to bring him to jail one and for all." My mind hesitated a little at what she was saying but she looked me dead in the eyes and said: "Please, trust us. We know what he's capable of."

With that last sentence, I sighed and nodded once, looking over to Eleazar and keeping a steady gaze with him. "I'm sorry, sir, for what I said before. I was… angry by what your daughter did to our family and I took it out on you. I'm… sorry," I said, slightly unwilling to let the words out but, in a way, I had acted rashly. My anger towards Tanya got the best of me and that would not be something that Bella would be proud of. "I hope you can forgive me."

Eleazar smiled gently and shook his head, closing his eyes while doing so. "No need to apologize… Edward, was it? What my daughter did, as I said before, is unforgivable and you have every right to be angry with me. But, I do want to try and make amends for all this and help you all with everything that I can do," Eleazar spoke, his voice sounding as sincere as it possibly could. Maybe there was finally hope after all.

Looking down sadly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I just want her back…" was my small answer.

Eleazar placed a soft hand on my shoulder and said: "I'll get her back, don't worry." Nodding at him, he looked over to Janet and smiled softly. "What would you like me to do?"

After a few minutes of watching Janet brief Eleazar on the situation, my heart felt that it had enough, that this was too much to handle for one day. First, finding out that Tanya really did chase Bella away and now to find out that her father will be helping us in getting my Bella back… It was too much to handle. Without a further word to my family or Angela, I walked upstairs to my room, my eyes locked onto my destination and nothing else.

When entering my room, my feet mechanically went to my bed and my body flopped down on it, looking up at the ceiling and placing my hands behind my head. My heart kept clenching and unclenching at the thought that he might not be able to get my Bella back. It wasn't possible for me to live without her. I might not have known her for longer than a few months but she was the one I wanted to be with. But if James killed her or… or worse… I don't know what I would do.

Closing my eyes sadly, a sudden thought came to my mind. Looking over to my nightstand, I sat up, shimmied over to the side of my bed and stood up, opening the first drawer of the nightstand and fishing through it to find the item I was looking for. Taking it out, my eyes scanned the small locket that lay in my hand. Opening it, a small picture of Bella and I, holding each other in our arms and smiling, could be seen. Inside, on the left side of the locket, was a small inscription saying 'Together forever; with love, Edward' was written in a stylish hand script. A small smile went to my face when looking over this golden locket.

I had gone to the store a few weeks ago and saw this small locket in a jewellery store. It might have been a little bit on the expensive side but it was so beautiful that the minute I had seen it, my mind began imagining how Bella would love this gift. It would fit perfectly around her neck, hanging against her chest, her beautiful brown hair hanging just around the heart shaped locket… That day, I had bought it and it was meant to be an end of the year gift for her. But now, she was gone and I would never get the chance to give it to her.

Unless…

Gripping the locket in my hand, my feet began running towards the living room where the police were going back to their work. But Eleazar was gone. Janet was back to working with her coworkers but he was nowhere to be seen. Looking out the window, my eyes detected him at his car door, opening it and stepping inside, just about to drive off.

I had to talk to him before he left.

Running outside, my heart began pounding with the running. But just as he began driving out of the driveway, I stopped and screamed with all my might. "WAIT!" Luckily, he must have heard me because his car slowed down to a complete stop and Eleazar stepped out, watching me with curious eyes. Walking over to him, I looked up at him and panted slightly. "I need to talk to you before you leave… Actually, more like give you something…"

"And what might that be Edward?" Eleazar asked, his eyes fixated on me. Holding out the locket in front of me, Eleazar watched it closely, analysing every detail of it. I placed it in his open hand and, after he closed his fist around it, my hand reached out to grab his wrist, keeping a firm hold on it. "Edward?"

"When you find Bella, you give this to her. I don't want it lost or anything. This is the only thing that will remind Bella that we are still her family and that she is still one of us. I want you to tell her, when you see her, that I don't care what James made her do. I don't care what he told her to tell us. I don't care about anything that he's done. I love her and I always will. And we'll get her home. Do you think you can tell her that?" Eleazar nodded and my hand released his wrist, letting him put the locket in his shirt pocket, keeping it close to him so that he wouldn't lose it.

"I'll tell her just that," Eleazar responded, nodding once as he held my gaze once more. In his eyes, there was only sympathy for me and my family. "I will do everything in my power to get her back. I promise you," he swore.

Nodding, he began to walk back to his car but there was one last thing that I needed to say before he went off to try and find my girlfriend. "Wait." At the sound of my voice, he turned his head and looked at me from the corner of his eye. "If anything happens to her, I will personally bring you and your daughter to jail for doing this to us, got it?"

Eleazar nodded slowly and gave off the faintest hint of a smile on his face. "Loud and clear, Edward…"

**Eleazar's Point of View**

The road to the strip club was long and thoughtful. My mind kept going over what Edward had told me about the locket and his promise to throw me and my daughter in jail. If he did do it, we would go without a fuss. It was Tanya who had gotten us in this mess in the first place and Janet had reassured me that, if I was able to find Bella, then our names would be exonerated.

When finding myself in the city before Tacoma, a red light made me stop the car and wait a few seconds. But during those few seconds, I reached into my shirt pocket and fished out the locket, staring profoundly at the object. He really loved this girl… enough to sacrifice everything for her. I hadn't seen true love like that in quite a long time.

_We are still her family and that she is still one of us._ _I don't care about anything that he's done. I love her and I always will. And we'll get her home._

His words still rang in my mind. They were so filled with love and power that it shocked me at first to hear such things. This wasn't just some love-at-first-sight sort of deal. He really was deep in love with her.

A honking sound woke me from my thoughts as I realized that the street light had changed color. Thanking the man with a wave of the hand, I sped off towards the strip club, hoping to find the girl I was trying to help.

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**Mortal-paralight20**

7


	25. A plan in motion

**Alright so here is the chapter that I wanted to write for a while. Hope that it is good because it's the longest chapter I've ever written in all of my stories. So, I shouldn't waste time letting you guys read this. So READ AND REVIEW. **

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 24

A plan in motion

**Eleazar's Point of View**

The club parking lot was already packed at this hour. Considering it was close to midnight, my shock was easily contained. James must have done something quite large to get this many people. Parking my car in the only space available, I got out and looked around, seeing some men walk out of the club with large grins on their faces, some even putting their wedding rings back where they should be. How some of these men even got _away_ with doing things of this sort made me absolutely sick. It was revolting to be in a relationship and go to places such as this. It was a false relationship, simple as that.

Walking into the club, I looked around to find men sitting everywhere, women dancing on their laps or handing them drinks. All of the men were smirking as they placed their hands on the women's hips and helped them move around them. It was absolutely revolting. There was even a man was using a small hand metal detector on the new men walking inside the club.

But what really caught my eye was the woman on stage, singing as the other men goggled at her beauty.

It was Bella, singing in a small silver V tank top and a short jeans skirt. Her singing was absolutely beautiful—it was as if her voice was heaven—but with the men looking at her… hungrily… it simply made me sick to my stomach. No one should have to be looked at that way, especially not a young nearly eighteen year old woman.

Just as I walked up to the security guard, a man with light brown short hair and dark eyes looked over at me before gazing over to his singer. He smirked so cruelly at her that it made me slightly clench my fists. But just as I was unclenching my fists, the metal detector went off and the man looked over at me. "Sir, you need to take off all electronic devices with a camera. What do you have in your pockets?" the security guard with the black dreads asked, scrutinizing me with narrowed eyes. Was someone already on my tail? This couldn't b e good…

"No need to be so hostile, Laurent," the man with blond hair said, walking over to us with his hands behind his back. Something told me that the man who had just interrupted Laurent had to be James. No one seemed that sinister… As the man stopped in front of us, he placed a hand on Laurent's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "You can just ask him to show you his phone and determine if it's a camera phone. No violence necessary."

"My phone is quite primitive," I said, taking it out of my pocket to show them the small Samsung flip phone. Laurent took it and looked it over; verifying every angle of it to make sure that it was safe. When he looked back at me and gave me my phone back, a small smile went to my face, knowing that this plan wasn't ruined already. "Does it come to the satisfaction of this club? I only came here to be entertained but never have I seen such security at such a place."

"We only make sure that the men here don't take pictures of the women and post them online. If that would happen, people could sue this place and we would be out of business. Considering the amount of people coming here, it would be a shame for that to happen," the man said, motioning with his hand towards the men, all in a state of apparent bliss.

A fake smile appeared on my face and, with a small nod, I said: "It would be quite a shame."

"My name is James. I'm the owner of this club. Tell me, what can I interest you today?" James asked, his smile making my skin crawl. It was quite interesting for him to come up to his clients and ask how they were doing. It wasn't something that was normally done… Maybe he was making sure that he would get the money they were offering. "We have many available women to satisfy your every need."

How could this man be so cruel? He took girls and forced them to act this way to _satisfy _horrible men's needs. James took girls from their lives and brought them here so that those girls could make money for him. How revolting… But if I wanted to get the information I needed and to talk to Bella, I needed to act as if this pleased me.

"Hm…" Looking around, seemingly interested in his offer, my eyes scanned the room for the girls. They all seemed so young, so innocent. But some of them had smiles on their faces, as if they liked this. James had converted them that badly… Half of the other girls seemed repulsed, which seemed to turn the men on even more. It disgusted me to no end. Tapping my finger on my chin to make the illusion even more real, I kept looking around but finally landed my eyes on Bella, still singing on the stage. "What about that girl?" I asked, pointing to Bella as she looked over at me, fear now making her way into her eyes as she saw me point at her. Was she up there just so she didn't have to please these men? Good girl…

James frowned ever so slightly but composed himself just in time to look at me and smile ever so slightly. "She's our singer. Bella's been bringing in more men lately since she's been on stage. But unfortunately, she's a complete klutz. You wouldn't want her. There are many other—"

"No… She… She fascinates me. I want to see what she has to offer." Looking over at James, he was a little sceptical but it was to be expected. Luckily, Janet had given me a wad of cash in case James seemed to act this way. Taking out the amount of cash out of my pocket, his eyes lit up like a small child at Christmas. It was so typical… He only wanted to make money. James would sacrifice anything for a simple wad of money at his disposal. "I'm willing to pay anything you ask," was my final answer, which seemed to have broken his hesitation.

"Well… I suppose she'll just have to shape up now, won't she?" James asked, smiling as he placed the money in the inside pocket of his coat. James placed a hand behind my back, making me want to remove it immediately, and motioned with his free hand to the rooms on the far side of the lobby. "Those are the private rooms. You can just ask my nephew Jacob in the DJ booth for the song you want during your… session… and I'll prepare Bella before bringing her over to your chamber," James explained before patting me once on the shoulder, flashing a cruel smile and made his way over to the stage just as Bella finished her song.

When looking over at Bella, she seemed to be in a state of desperate fear. It was something that I hadn't seen on a person's face in many years. The act alone made my heart clench and feel extreme sympathy for her. Soon, if things went according to plan, I could talk to her and try to free her as soon as possible.

Walking over to the booth, James' nephew seemed slightly horrified—probably because he was hiding his emotions very well. When opening the door to the booth, I looked over at him and closed the door behind me slowly, placing a smile on my face to try and work the façade.

"Hello young man. James tells me you are the one who arranges the music in the private rooms?" I asked, placing a hand on the table beside the door, looking over at the CD collection on the table.

"Are you the guy who wants to go with Bella, the singer you just saw?" Jacob asked and I nodded slightly, running my fingers over the CDs and looking at the titles. Tanya seemed to listen to these bands and so, they were familiar to me. "Look mister, I know that you're looking for a good time but Bella, she's—"

Just as he was about to continue that sentence, I grabbed the first CD on the stack of cases and 'accidentally' toppled over the stack. The cases scattered across the floor and sometimes opened the cases to splatter the CDs across the floor, making the cleanup longer. As James' nephew sighed and bent over to collect his CDs, I said: "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Let me help you clean up," and bent down to help him. As he reached for a CD, I grabbed Jacob's hand, which made him look me dead in the eyes. "Are there cameras in this booth?" Jacob shook his head and a small smile appeared on my face. "Good, then we can talk privately."

"Who are you?" Jacob asked, picking up the CDs slowly as he looked at me confused.

"My name is Eleazar and I'm a detective. I work with the police who are trying to get Bella back to her family," I responded, picking up half of the CDs as Jacob began putting the CDs back in the case. "But I need you to follow along and act as I tell you while we're in this booth. We can't let James figure out our plan. All of this is just an act to try and get to talk to her alone."

"It'll be hard for you to get past James' security. He might not have any cameras in the booth or in the private rooms—he tries to give the men 'privacy', the disgusting pig—but James isn't one to be fooled. He'll find out what you're up to soon enough," Jacob explained, standing up slowly with an expressionless face.

A fake smile appeared on my face as I stood up as well, placing the CDs back where they belonged. But when placing them back, I snuck my cell phone in front of the stack so that James wouldn't be aware of the act. It just seemed as though I was simply putting Jacob's collection back. Jacob looked down at it for a second before looking back up at me with an inquisitive glance.

"There's only one way to get Bella out of here and that's if we trace his location. When you go back to where he's hiding Bella, make sure to give her this phone. Dial the number before you hand her the phone so that she doesn't suspect what is happening. Have her call the Cullens and make sure that James isn't suspicious of what is going on. Now, act as if I asked you something incredible and you're not sure of the act," I said, trying to make our act all the more believable. Jacob did as he was told and looked away, seeming to hesitate. Getting a fifty dollar bill out of my pocket, I approached my head towards his ear and began whispering in it. "Her family wants her back. James might have ruined her chances of living again but they haven't given up on her. And they won't until she has returned to them. I intend to get her back to her family where she belongs. And, seeing as you seem to be unhappy with this life, maybe we can help you as well." Slipping the bill into Jacob's front shirt pocket, he looked down at it and placed a hand on his pocket, seeming to lose the 'hesitation' in his eyes. "The Cullen number is in the bill I just handed you. Put it in your pocket without James seeing what you're doing. We don't want him to know what is going on."

With all of these explanations, Jacob seemed to understand what was happening and nodded, moving his hands towards the DJ system. He lifted up a CD as an act to ask me if this was the right disc that I wanted and asked instead: "If this doesn't work and he finds out, you know that she will die right? He won't hesitate in killing her like the other girls…"

Nodding at him, my tone became melancholic, even if the smile was still plastered on my face. "I understand that, which is why, if he finds out, you'll have to get away from him as soon as you can," I explained, trying to sound confident. If James were to ever find out what we were up to, this plan could burst into flames.

Jacob nodded and placed the CD in the system. "It'll be hard. James has electric collars around our necks when we're at his house. If we try to escape, they'll go off and shock us so badly that we'll be knocked out. I tried once," Jacob explained, looking at his screen as he began putting the songs in the playlist for the room. Luckily, his mouth was hidden by the booth's edge so James couldn't find out what we were saying. Looking in the room, James was nowhere to be found, probably getting Bella ready for the 'session' he explained. Hopefully, he wasn't hurting her but that was doubtful. James seemed like the kind of person who loved to cause pain to others, even his own nephew.

"With the amount of money that I just offered James, try to get him to let Bella off the hook this once. Try to persuade him that you both don't need them this time," I explained, hoping that this plan would work. As of now, it felt as though it really wouldn't which frightened me terribly. This had to work… "Try anything to get him to keep those collars off. Tomorrow will be the third day that Bella was taken, so James shouldn't want to kill her for another five days, if I'm correct. If you can get all of that accomplished, then we'll have James in prison and both you and Bella free of his clutches." Jacob stood up and shook my hand, looking me straight in the eyes as if we had just done a good compromise with the song choices. But it was much more than such a state. It was fright mixed with hope and admiration. "Please trust me Jacob."

"I do… I just hope that you know what you're doing," Jacob explained just as he released my hand and I went towards the door to the booth.

"I do. I'll go and explain the plan to Bella but I promise you Jacob, nothing will happen to the both of you," were my final words before exiting the room and seeing James drag Bella unwillingly to the private room. He smiled cruelly at me while Bella struggled against him. She looked terrified. The poor girl... Hopefully, the explanation of my plan would lessen her fright. "I think I can handle it from here, James."

James nodded and tossed the girl to me, letting me grab her by her arm slightly roughly to keep up the pretence. I would have to apologize to Bella afterwards for this… "Well, you have a pleasant time now, sir," James said, seeming to glare at Bella before he walked away to consult with his other customers. When peering down at my watch, it read five to midnight. At best, I had maybe five to ten minutes to explain the whole plan.

Looking down at Bella, she was shaking in my hold. Her eyes plainly told me that she didn't want to be in this situation. Neither did I but it was the only way to talk to her alone and safely. Bringing her to the room, my grip lessened on her as we walked but Bella kept resisting. It was as if her fear overtook her as we walked over to the room, opened it and walked inside. The room was lavishly decorated, with a red heart couch and many flowers decorating the rooms. The smell of scented candles lit up the private room, illuminating a dim light. Even the music that Jacob had put in the room was playing dimly in the background. People interested in these kinds of activities to escape their marriages were pigs to me.

Looking down at Bella, I released my hold on her completely and she took a few hesitant steps away from me, shaking even more. Luckily, she was wearing waterproof mascara because a few tears began falling down her face. "Please… Please I can't do this… Please don't…" she begged, wrapping her arms around herself to keep herself together. She was such a brave girl to even try and attempt to reason with someone who apparently wanted to take advantage of her.

Shaking my head, I cupped her cheeks, which she recoiled at the touch. "Bella, you don't need to be afraid. Your family sent me to try and get you out of here."

At the mention of her family, Bella immediately tensed up and stared at me dumbfounded. This must be the complete opposite of what she was expecting to do in this room: talk about her family and her chances of escaping. "The… the Cullens sent you?" Bella asked shakily.

Nodding slowly, Bella seemed to slightly relax under my hands, sensing through my eyes that I wasn't going to hurt her. "The police have been trying to find you but they weren't able to find anything as of yet. But Edward and his siblings worked hard on trying to find information to help you. They found the number to the club and here's where I come in. My name is Eleazar and I'm here to help get you out of here," I explained, removing the part about my daughter causing all of this out of the explanation. Bella had enough worries to think of without this to worry about.

Bella shook her head sadly, my hands letting go of her slowly. "I shouldn't be freed… I don't know why they kept searching for me, after all that I did to them, but they shouldn't try to get me back. James will—"

"We're trying to act so that James _doesn't_ find out what our plan is and doesn't hurt you or worse. The Cullens have been worried sick about you. I've talked to Jacob while James was bringing you here and he has agreed to help me get you out. By tomorrow, you should be back with your family without any problem, Bella. I promise you," I swore, taking her hand softly and just noticing the small bruise that was forming on her cheek. Another was already in bloom on her arm, where James had grabbed her. My gesture from before probably hadn't helped the case. Moving my hand slowly towards it, she recoiled as my hand went towards her skin but didn't fight me. When placing my hand on her cheek, she flinched slightly at the slight pain and a frown appeared on my face. "He won't hurt you ever again, not if all of this works out the way it should."

"Why have they been searching…? I'm nothing anymore… Nothing because of _him_…" she asked, mostly to herself but somehow, I felt obligated to answer.

"Because they cherish you and consider you their family. Carlisle has been a friend of mine for many years and, just looking at him, I knew that you were very important to him, to _all_ of them. They wouldn't dare leave you behind like this, especially not to the hands of a brute and a psychopath such as James," I explained, removing my hand from her cheek slowly but never losing eye contact with her. Tears began streaming down her face once again and she looked away, obviously torn between believing my words and feeling the guilt that has been building inside of her for nearly a week now. Taking her hand again, I placed a finger under her chin and lifted it softly so that she could look at me. "I promise you Bella that by no later tomorrow, you _will_ be safe and back with your family."

Bella seemed to be having a hard time believing me but she nodded slowly, lying ever so slightly to amuse me. She had a hard time believing that she _was_ going to be out of the hellhole that she has been in for the past few days. But we will get her back. Mark my words…

As I explained to her the plan, she fidgeted with her hands ever so slightly. We might only have had a few minutes left to explain but it was better than none. And she was cooperating. With everything that happened, I was certain that she would have rejected the idea but she seemed to go along with it. Every time I mentioned the Cullens, she tensed a little, probably still remembering the pain that James forced her to cause them. But she shouldn't feel guilty. He had manipulated her into doing that; she hadn't _wanted_ to do it. There was a difference. But, considering that she kept tensing at their names, I left out the part where Jacob was going to let her talk to them. It would be best if Jacob simply told her he had a phone call and let things unfold from there. But he had to make sure that she kept talking. It wouldn't work if Bella simply cut the phone line in the middle of the conversation.

But when we were done with the explanation, she cried a few tears and sobbed a little but it was better than I had expected her to act. But, sadly, it was good that she was shedding tears. It made it more believable that she had hated her experience in this room rather than wept over her soon freedom. I wrapped my arms around her soon after the explanation and patted her hair, trying to help her sobbing. When hugging her, I tried to get her scent on me in case James was suspicious of my behaviour afterwards. But, all in all, it was a comforting gesture that I was offering Bella, nothing else.

"I promise you Bella that you won't live in this hell hole any longer. We'll get you out and you can go back to your family soon. I promise you…" I swore and she nodded against my chest, trying to compose herself with little success.

After a few seconds, she stopped sobbing and wiped the tears from her eyes, looking up at me and simply stared in sadness. Obviously, she had a feeling that the Cullens would not accept her if she returned. But they would.

Suddenly, something occurred to me. There was one thing that I was forgetting. "There's one more thing that I have to give and tell you. It's from Edward. He wanted me to give you something if I found you," I said, beginning to take out the locket from my pocket. When she saw it, her eyes never looked away from it.

Tears began forming in her eyes but they never fell this time. "He… He wants me to have this…?" she asked, clearly shocked to have something as beautiful as this given to her at this time, especially by Edward Cullen. Janet had explained to me that James had forced Bella to break up with Edward so that James could break Bella to pieces. James wanted to tear Bella as far away from the Cullens as possible and, looking in Bella's eyes now, it looked like he had succeeded… "But… but why…?"

"Because he wants you to know that this locket is the only thing that will remind you that the Cullens are still your family and that you are still one of them. He wanted me to tell you that he doesn't care what James made you do or told you to do or tell you to tell them. Edward really doesn't care about any of that. He says that he loves you and that he always will. He also wanted me to tell you that he would bring you home but I believe that I have made that abundantly clear enough," I said, eyeing her the entire time. When finished with the speech, I placed the locket in her shaking hand and looked at her reaction.

Bella seemed absolutely speechless. It was as if she had lost the entire will to speak anymore. With everything that James made her do, to hear a message from Edward saying that he loves her… it would be a shock to anyone. In Bella's eyes, it showed that she believed that she had lost every single member of her new family, even her true love. But that was untrue. Edward still loved her and wanted her. When Bella opened the locket, it seemed as though her heart stopped beating and the tears, this time, fell from her eyes. She was looking at the picture of the two of them together, smiling like there were no fears in the world. Obviously, this picture had seemed to pain and relieve her at the same time. She wanted to go back to that but felt as if she couldn't, that it was too far away for her to reach now.

But it wasn't. There was still hope. Bella simply had to believe that again.

Bella looked up at me and nodded slowly, wiping the tears away and putting the locket away in her bikini, keeping it close to her heart as she could and seeming to hope that James wouldn't find and steal it away from her. "Thank you…" was her only answer.

Nodding slowly to her, I placed a hand on her shoulder and looked back at the door. "We have to go back… Do you think you can make it for the rest of the night?" Bella nodded slowly and took in a deep breath. "Alright then, we'll head out and I will return to the Cullens," Another short breath from her at the sound of the name. Bella had stopped retorting about her escape but she still felt horrible guilt for her actions, making her unsure of the Cullens' actions. How did I know? It showed in her actions, "and I will tell them about what happened tonight. The police will want to try and find you as soon as possible."

Bella nodded and I began making my way towards the door but she grabbed my wrist lightly. Looking back at her, Bella looked so melancholic that it nearly tore my heart apart to see her this way. "Please… Please make sure that they don't get hurt… I couldn't bear it if anything happened to them," Bella pleaded, looking me deep in the eyes. "I don't know what will happen from now on but I don't want the Cullens to get hurt for my actions… Please, protect them."

That one plea made me determined to get her back without any harm coming to anyone. She was so willing to put her life above anyone else's that it made me even more determined to end this entire torment of hers. Nodding to her, I placed a hand on hers and looked back in her eyes. "I will, don't you worry Bella. Everything is going to be just fine," I swore, smiling softly at her and she nodded slowly, letting go of me.

Turning around, my mind wandered to the love I felt for my wife Carmen and the bliss came to my eyes. A small blissful smile came to my face and I stepped out, seeing James speaking to some of his clients. Bella stepped out in a rush, fast-walking over to the stage so that she could try and compose herself for the men wanting to hear her sing. If things worked out, this would be the last night that she had to satisfy men this way ever again…

James walked over to me and, when seeing my hopefully believable blissful expression, he smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "You seem quite happy, sir," he said with that cruel smile of his. "Was it to your liking?

"At first, she was reluctant but, when she discovered who was in charge here, she changed and it was very satisfactory. That Bella is quite the keeper." Just speaking the words made me want to throw up. All men who acted this way disgusted me… I was even beginning to disgust myself with this fake acting.

James nodded and smiled. "I believe that I might just let the men take her from time to time…" he retorted slowly, beginning to think to himself. I just hoped that he wouldn't use her tonight…

"Well, you do what you will. But thank you for letting me take her tonight. It was quite a night to remember…" I said and extending my hand. Letting him shake it with good faith, all my heart felt was to hurt this man for hurting so many innocent women, even to the point of death. "Thank you and you might see me again soon," was my last 'happy' remark before James let go and nodded with a grin. My feet brought me out of the club and went towards my car, my mind still wanting to kill this man on the spot. But I had to hold myself together until I was back at the Cullen house and Janet could find this man where he lived.

Getting in my car, I looked at the time and saw that it was nearing twelve thirty in the morning. It was a five hour drive back to Forks and it was getting very late. I would have to stop for the night to get my strength back to drive early in the morning.

Driving over to the nearest motel, I called Janet and explained to her the short version of the situation: met Bella and told her that we were going to get her back to the Cullens. It was a very short version of it but I wanted to explain things better in person. It only seemed right. Janet agreed to the short version and was even gladder when I told her that she would get the entire version tomorrow morning when I would come back to Forks.

Hanging up the phone, I went to my motel room and went straight to bed, getting ready for what was to come tomorrow: preparing Bella's escape.

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

15


	26. Hearing her voice

**So it took me a little while to get this chapter complete but better late than never. So READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 25

Hearing her voice

**Edward's Point of View**

Eleazar had left after supper time, arriving quite late at the club, which meant that we wouldn't receive any news until early in the morning. As much as it pained me to wait, there was no other alternative. All throughout the night, while Eleazar was gone, my mind kept racing and asking mental questions. Did he find Bella? Is she alright? Did James hurt her? How much has she changed…? Will she still love me if we bring her home? After the horrible things that I told her before she was taken, it would take a miracle for her to love me again.

Just as I was about to head off to bed for another sleepless night, Janet's phone rang. She answered and mouthed to us that it was from Eleazar. She asked him a few questions before hanging up a few minutes later. When we had asked her what he had said, my heart felt a little better. Bella was alright. That was all he would tell us. But it was better than nothing. Apparently, according to Janet, he would come and explain things more in detail in the morning. I wanted to know more about Bella and what he had seen but we couldn't ask miracles. It was nearly one in the morning and he needed rest. We all did.

As we went to bed, I changed into my pyjamas mechanically. All that my mind could think about was Bella and what could have happened between her and Eleazar. When entering the bed, my eyes couldn't fall. They only stared at the ceiling. Knowing that Bella was alright, that James hadn't taken her fully away from me, made my heart beat quicker than usual in anticipation and anxiety.

She would be alright… Bella would be back with us soon.

With that thought in mind, I tried to get some sleep but to no avail.

When waking up in the morning, my eyes felt heavy and my body wired. During the entire night, my body kept tossing and turning from nightmares and uneasiness. Nightmares about Bella being killed in front of me by a man with no face… and uneasiness because of the fact that I wouldn't know if Bella was alright at this very moment, that she would return to me safe and sound.

Today, Eleazar would explain to us what happened and my anxiety might worsen or would get better.

Before going down to eat breakfast, I got dressed slowly, staring out of the window into the forest. Throughout the changing process, my mind kept imagining Bella smiling at me, her hair moving in the wind and her eyes shining with love towards me and my family. How I longed to see that again…

Pushing the image aside, I got dressed as soon as possible and went downstairs to find the rest of the family already having breakfast. It was still very early in the morning and surprisingly, the police was still hard at work.

Sitting down at the table with the rest of my family, they watched me take an apple from the fruit bowl with a sad smile. I knew what they were thinking. They were beginning to think that this plan was going to fail. But it couldn't. Eleazar had seemed to gotten in and out without being detected by James and so, if Bella would be able to go back to his hideout and stay undetected until the phone call, then things could run smoothly. But there could be flaws… We didn't know how intelligent James was and how observant he could be. He might have already figured out what we were up to.

All we had to do was hope that he wouldn't figure out…

"Good morning, Edward…" Mom said, trying to sound cheerful through this melancholic atmosphere.

A small smile went to my face because of her effort. Mom could always make me smile in times of tragedy, even when she was in pain. I could tell from her eyes and her posture that her wound was still giving her grief. "Morning, Mom. How'd you sleep?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood for everyone. Obviously, it wasn't working.

Mom shrugged with slight difficulty but still smiled at me. "It could have been better…"

"It seems like everyone's night could have been better…" Rosalie mumbled, looking down at her bowl of oatmeal sadly. She really did want Bella back just as much as all of us but we were all powerless at the moment. The police had to take it from here. "I hope that Eleazar guy was able to help Bella."

"I'm sure he did. He should be back shortly. Janet informed us that he left early in the morning to come back here in time to explain to us what happened," Dad explained, wrapping an arm slowly around Mom's shoulders and looking at all of us. Just as he finished his statement, Janet walked over to us with a serious expression on her face, unreadable. Was something wrong…? "Hello Janet. How may we help you?"

"I just received a call from your fiend Eleazar and he says that he'll be here in about two and a half hours." Two and a half hours?! What time did he leave Tacoma? It was a five hour drive from there to here so he must have left quite early, considering it was nearly eight in the morning.

Dad nodded and smiled slightly. "At least we'll be able to get his side of the story soon," was Dad's last remark before Janet went off to continue helping the other police officers while Rosalie and Alice went off in their own direction, probably to talk to Jasper and Emmett. Mom and Dad stayed at the kitchen table and spoke privately, which meant that I was alone… again.

Many hours later, a knock was finally heard at the door. When hearing the sound, my heart jumped. While we waited for Eleazar to come back, I'd been pacing outside of the house, apparently annoying everyone with my incessant pacing. My worry had kept increasing with time, wondering if Bella really would be alright. About fifteen minutes before the knock at the door, I had entered the house, sitting down while tapping my foot against the floor. It was the only way to keep myself from breaking.

Walking to the door, I opened it to find Eleazar standing on the other side, slight bags under his eyes. He must not have slept much. "Hello Edward, nice to see you this morning," he said, trying to smile and lighten the horrible mood that surrounded this house.

Nodding to him, I let myself aside for him to enter and he stepped inside. "Nice to see you as well, Mr. Denali," I answered, closing the door when he had entered.

"Welcome, Eleazar. What news do you bring us of your expedition in Tacoma?" Dad asked, shaking his friend's hand and welcoming him to the kitchen table.

As Eleazar sat down, he placed his hands together and locked eyes with all of us, wondering where to start. But, after a few seconds, he sighed and began speaking, catching my attention the minute he spoke. "James has quite the business; many girls working there, some out of their own will and others terrified of what they're doing. Bella's one of those terrified girls. She's their singer, having basically every men watch her with... hungry eyes. But, while being on stage, she can't satisfy the men the way the other girls do, which is to her advantage." A sigh of relief escaped my lips when hearing this. When Eleazar began speaking, my heart began clenching in terror. I had been afraid that Bella was one of those girls who were satisfying the men out of force but thankfully she wasn't. "Last night, when I had went to the club, James had been hesitant about letting me 'see'," He did air quotes around the word 'see' but, with the look of disgust in his eyes, I could tell that he didn't do anything to Bella, which I was thankful for, "her but, after a little bit of money his way, he agreed willingly, which is when I gave Jacob the gist of the plan and the phone."

After the basic information he gave us, he paused to take a sip of the coffee Mom had brought him and looked at us. According to what he had said, James wasn't suspicious of his behaviour, which meant that he wasn't onto our plan. Bella was still safe for the moment. But there was one thing that bothered me a little.

"How was Bella? Did she seem alright?" I asked, somewhat wondering how she was feeling now that my love knew that we were trying to get her back.

Eleazar sighed and looked down at his coffee for a few moments before looking solely at me. "I won't lie to you, Edward. She looked very hesitant. When I gave her your locket, she wept. Bella was at a lost for words when she saw the pictures and when I repeated your words to her. But, every time I mentioned you all, she flinched and that horrible look of guilt appeared in her eyes. It was as if she could never forget what happened and forgive herself for her actions, even if they were unintentional." A frown made its way to my face when hearing this. My poor Bella... To think that she felt this way all on her own for so long, it was horrible. She could be happy once again if Bella only could see that we didn't hate or reject her.

We wanted nothing more than to show her that she was always welcomed and loved here.

"What will happen once she's brought back…?" I asked softly but shakily, hands fidgeting now. Just as Eleazar was about to speak, the phone rang, making everyone look in that direction. Looking back at Eleazar, the only question that rang through my mind was: _Could this be?_ Was this really happening? Shakily standing up, I walked mechanically to the phone, looked over at Janet and got the nod to pick up the phone, seeing her place a set of headphones on her head. So that everyone could hear, I placed the phone on speaker and said: "Hello?"

"_Are you Edward?_" A man said on the other line. The voice sounded young but mature, whispering in a hushed tone for now. Who was this?

"Yes, this is Edward. Who is this?" I asked, trying to sound strong but could this be James? We hadn't heard his voice and so this could be the man who was torturing my girlfriend. "Are you James?"

"_No, my name is Jacob and I've been trying to help a girl named Bella._" My eyes widened and I looked over to my family, who were standing close to the phone, all shocked at this news. This was the Jacob that Eleazar was referring to."_Look, I don't have much time but, while he's gone, you can talk to her. Just, I don't know how much you can get accomplished in such short time. I don't know when he'll be back._"

"It's alright; we'll take whatever we can get," I responded, anticipating when Jacob will hand over the phone to my beloved. I didn't mind the warning but we had been wondering for days if Bella was alright. "Thank you for doing this for us."

Jacob didn't say anything but, on the other line, we heard walking and, in the background, Jacob's voice speaking to someone. "_It's for you…_" Jacob said to someone, maybe Bella?

We heard the phone being passed to someone and, upon hearing the female voice on the phone; my heart skipped a beat and probably stopped altogether. "_Hello…?_" my beloved Bella said, sounding tired and empty. At first, when hearing her voice, it seemed as if it was the most beautiful sound in the world that it froze me in place. My Bella was alright… She was still alive. The plan wasn't ruined completely, not yet. I must have taken too long to reply because Bella once again spoke. "_Hello?_"

"Bella…" I whispered, a smile forming on my lips when saying her name. This time, when whispering her name, it didn't hurt my heart. It felt a little better, somewhat whole.

Bella must have been in shock from hearing me speak because she remained silent for a while, too long for my taste. At least, during her silence, the police was still trying to track her location. "_Edward…_" she whispered back but in tremendous shock. It was easy to hear it in her voice. She didn't expect us to call her. "_I… I wasn't expecting you to get a call from you…_" Bella replied honestly, her shock still eminent in her voice. But it was also laced with sadness and guilt. Eleazar wasn't kidding when he spoke about her guilt. My poor Bella…

"Jacob called us Bella. And we're glad he did. We were worried beyond words about you," I spoke, looking over to the others and seeing them smile ever so slightly at hearing Bella. They were just as worried as we were about Bella's wellbeing that we wanted to make sure that she was alright. Every time that Bella went silent on the other line, my heart clenched in worry. "H… How are you doing, Bella?"

"_As good as anyone can be in my situation… Eleazar hadn't told me that I would be talking to you… He just told me that the police were trying to locate me but nothing else,_" she admitted.

"The police are tracking your location now but we wanted to talk to you so badly Bella. We're worried sick, wondering if something happened to you or not, that we just wanted to hear that you were ok," I replied, taking a seat by the phone and desperately wanting to reach inside the telephone and hold my Bella's hand reassuringly. If what Eleazar said was true, Bella would be finding it terribly hard to believe us. "We're gonna make sure that nothing happens to you Bella. The police is gonna find your location and—"

"_You shouldn't find me…_" my beloved replied, horrible sadness mixing into her words.

A look of confusion spread over my face—the rest of my family must have done the same thing as well but I didn't dare look back to find out—as my eyes locked onto the phone. What was she talking about? She couldn't stay with that monster any longer. By tomorrow, Bella would most likely be dead… I could never let that happen. "I don't understand Bella… Why do you say that?"

"_There really is no point in me coming back… Even if the police find me, nothing will change,_" she said, letting me realize what she was leading to.

Looking back to my family, Mom's eyes glistened with unshed tears; my sisters were holding themselves, trying to stay strong while Dad held Mom, his face unreadable. Bella felt as though we didn't want her anymore, which broke our hearts to think so. There had to be something we could do to change her mind. But, how could we do that? James had twisted her mind and made her do so many things that it would be tough to help her. But we had to try.

"Bella, we don't care about that. We know that it wasn't you who did all of those things. We just want you back… You're our family," I said, hoping that it would be a start to helping her believe us.

"_I lost the right to have a family when I first received that text message… With Rosalie getting in that accident, Alice being suspended, M—Esme being shot and breaking the heart of the one person who made me happy, I lost every right to have a family…_" Bella replied, breaking my heart at her words. Bella had wanted to say 'Mom' but changed it at the last minute. In her heart, she still felt that this was her family. But her mind said otherwise. "_I've lost it all…_"

"Bella, you know that's not—"

"_Even if I were to return, it wouldn't change anything. I'd still see the hurt and the betrayal that I made you all feel. I'm just a traitor Edward… someone who breaks hearts and tears people apart. There's nothing for me to come back to… Not a family, not friends… not even love._" Bella's voice sounded as if there were tears. Was she crying? An angel such as herself shouldn't be crying. Looking over to my family, there were tears flowing down their face from hearing Bella's words. It was true that, when Bella was being forced to betray us, we _had_ pulled away from her. There had been; from time to time, anger and betrayal in our eyes but, since we've discovered the horrible truth, we've been trying to remedy that."_I have nothing—_"

Just as I was about to interrupt Bella and try to make her see sense, there was a slamming sound heard on the other side of the phone. Bella stopped talking and suddenly, a door was slammed open and we heard Bella suck in a breath. "Bella?" I asked worriedly, standing up and placing my hands on either side of the phone, looking down at it in worry. What was going on over there…?

"_Well, well, well… What do we have here? Someone's trying to be rescued,_" the chilling voice of a man was heard, making me tense up in anger. This couldn't be… How could this happen? James wasn't supposed to figure it out. "_That's very naughty Bella… And here we were getting along so well._"

Bella must have dropped the phone because a loud _crash_ was heard on the other line. "_J… James… I… I can exp—_" Bella began saying but was cut off abruptly. There was a slamming sound, followed by a female choking sound. No…

"Bella?! Bella, what's happening?!" I asked worriedly, hands clenching into fists as my eyes never left the phone.

"_You know, I was planning on savouring you until tomorrow—grab a little more cash before you became boring to the audience—but with that little stunt of yours, I think I'll just take you here and now… You might be better than the other girls I've had but not by much. Maybe afterwards, I'll dump your body on the Cullens' front porch so that they can see you one last time before putting you in a box six feet under,_" James admitted, making my eyes widen and look over to Janet. She was frozen with fear as well but, looking over to the computer, they appeared to be recording this conversation while tracking Bella's location. At least they now had proof of James' evil doings. "_What do you say Bella? Don't you think that you deserve to be punished for doing this?_" James asked, his voice seemingly pissed off but also sickeningly cruel. How dare he threaten Bella like this?!

"_P… Please…_" Bella begged while choking on her words. James had better remove his hands from my Bella's throat—or wherever he was choking her—or I swear that I would kill him myself. "_Just… l… let me… go…_"

"_Not likely Bella. You should know not to disobey me,_" James said, making me start to shake in anger. Janet's police officers seemed to have an exact location of James' hideout and stood up, running out of the house with their weapons in hand. "_Now, I'm gonna have to—Agh!_" James screamed, the sound of something dropping filling the phone moments later. What was happening over there?!

We could hear coughing and then scrambling while a door opened and the voice of a young man screaming Bella's name. It was Jacob. What had happened to him while James was in the room?! He was supposed to protect Bella, not get her hurt!

"_Why, you little bitch…_" James muttered, half in pain and half in anger.

I wish that we were able to know what was going on over there. Hearing this was driving me insane. Just as the scrambling continued to sound through the phone, a feminine ear shattering scream was heard. My Bella! My mind couldn't comprehend that the scream had come form her and it broke my heart to hear such a horrible sound but it was true. That sound had come from my beloved.

"Bella!" Jacob and I both screamed at the same time, my worry simply increasing from that sound. What had James done to Bella?! My heart kept breaking from hearing this and sadly, it seemed to only be getting worse. "_Come on!_" Jacob screamed, running being heard and then there was silence, only panting and grumbling. What was going on?!

After a few moments of horrible silence, James' horribly cruel voice was whispered into the phone. "_Gonna get that bitch before she bleeds to death…_" he said before we heard the phone being picked up but sadly, there was a crashing sound and the line went dead.

I slammed my fist into the table beside the phone and tried to take calming breaths. "What the hell was that?!" I asked, my rage taking control of me for the moment being. Looked over to my family, they were all standing there in shock. Luckily, Emmett wasn't here or else he would probably have a fit. But when my eyes scanned over to my father, his face was filled with sadness and hatred for James. When trying to find Janet, she seemed to have disappeared along with the rest of the police officers. They were all on their way to get Bella. "I hope that the police are out there looking for her… If this James put one finger on Bella, I swear that I—"

"He won't Edward. I don't know what happened over there with Bella but she will be alright. I promise," Dad said, placing a hand on my shoulder and looking me directly in the eyes. "James won't get away with this. That, I swear to you."

My mind and heart tried to believe my father's words but some part of me felt distant, as if his words were surreal. The police had better find her in time… I couldn't lose my Bella this way, not to this monster. I couldn't lose her, not ever.

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

12


	27. Unexpected

**Ok so here is the new chapter. Sorry it took so long but I wanted it well done. So here it is. READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 26

Unexpected

**Bella's Point of View**

James hadn't made me 'satisfy' anymore men that night. Somehow, he had given me the night off and simply told me to sing for the rest of the night—or morning, whatever you want to call it—which was absolutely fine with me. After my little talk with Eleazar, my heart seemed to have slowed down a little but the fear of being stuck in a room with a sexually hungry man hadn't left me.

When the night was over, James—as usual—tied my wrists together and brought me to the car, stuffing me in the back as my eyelids kept falling tiredly. Jacob kept glancing at me, worry and sadness filling his eyes but I liked his gaze. It reassured me ever so slightly. And when we finally arrived at James' hideout, which must have been quite early in the morning, James brought me inside. He literally had to drag me inside because of my fatigue, which didn't seem to make James too happy. Jacob tried helping him as much as possible but I was so tired.

When they finally dragged me to Jacob's room, James threw me onto the bed—which is an upgrade from the floor so I must have done something right tonight—and looked at Jacob. "You make sure that she gets plenty of rest. I want her good and ready for tomorrow night," James said, his voice cutting in and out because of my fatigue.

My eyes were already falling when my ears detected a door slamming shut. Suddenly, Jacob's face came into my field of vision and smiled softly at me, placing a blanket on top of my body before running his hand softly through my hair.

"Sleep Bella… Tomorrow, everything will be just fine…" were the last words I heard before sleep overcame me easily and the same nightmare came back to me.

When my eyes finally opened, the sun was shining once again through the small blinds. There wasn't anyone in the room with me. Slowly moving my head upwards, I began scanning the room. There were fresh normal clothes on the bed by my feet, a blanket covering me from toe to shoulder and no Jacob in the hay bed. Where was he? And did last night really happen…?

My mind was a little fuzzy from last night but, of what I could remember correctly, Eleazar had come to me and tried to rescue me from the hell hole. Had that really happened? Was there really a plan to get me back? It couldn't be… I was a traitor and an untrustworthy person. Why would the Cullens even _want_ me back? I'd destroyed them… It wasn't logical for them to even try and look for me.

Just as my mind kept racing around this thought, the door opened to reveal Jacob walking inside. He had a small smile on his face when his body was fully entered in the room and he shut the door behind him. "Well, good afternoon sunshine," Jacob greeted me, sitting down next to me on the bed, placing his hands behind him to keep himself balanced on his palms.

"It's already afternoon…? I slept that long?" I asked, rubbing my tired eyes. I might have slept a while but my body didn't feel energized. In fact, it felt quite tired.

Jacob nodded and looked me dead in the eyes. "Well, you worked late last night. It's normal to feel that way. Don't worry about it. James left this morning to do some work at the club and said he'd be gone for a few hours. He's kind of giving us free reign on the house," he explained, smiling ever so softly at me but that sadness in his eyes… It never left him since I arrived in this hellish house.

The questions still rang around in my head until I wasn't able to take it anymore. Looking over at my lap, my hands began fumbling around with one another. "Did… did last night really happen? Was that man really there?" I asked, feeling as though I needed to hear a 'yes' from Jacob to make sure that everything had been real. All of this: James being gone, Eleazar being at the club last night and giving me the—

The locket!

Looking down at my chest, I saw it hanging against my left breast under my bikini top, shining in the soft light. I had to hide it away from James so that he wouldn't take it from me last night. Taking it softly in my hands now, I opened it and saw the picture of Edward and myself, smiling and holding one another closely. Inside of the locket, it read 'Together forever; with love, Edward'. But just looking at the picture made me reminisce in that wonderfully relaxing and perfect day… I remembered this day very well…

_The Cullens had all gone their different ways, either to go shopping with Alice or getting a car fixed or going grocery shopping. The only people in the house had been Edward and I. I had been sitting in the garden, reading on the bench close to the roses as Edward entered the garden, looking over at me and smiling as he began approaching the bench. I placed my book down and made room for him to sit. But Edward wouldn't have it that way. He lifted me in his arms, making me squeal ever so slightly as he sat down and placed me carefully on his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning his forehead against my left temple ever so softly. _

"_You're quite subtle, you know that?" I teased, chuckling ever so slightly as he kissed my temple once. _

_Edward chuckled as well and smiled against my skin. "Well, I just thought that it you would be more comfortable for you to be sitting on something comfortable rather than a solid bench," he said, making me laugh at his statement._

"_Nice excuse… but I like this option better than the bench," was my simple answer before lying my head on his shoulder softly, loving the feel of his strong body under me. We lay like that for a few minutes, maybe even a few hours—being with him, time seemed to simply fly by—smiling before a clicking sound was heard. Opening my eyes, I saw Alice standing in front of us, smiling down at us as she held Edward's camera in her tiny pixie-looking hands. "Alice!" _

"_What? Edward didn't seem to mind. Besides, you both looked too comfortable to actually move and get the stupid thing," she said, grinning before skipping back into the house, camera in hand. Damn… she was getting away with the evidence._

_Looking over at Edward, he seemed to be grinning like a mad man. So Alice _had _been telling the truth… "You knew about this?" I asked, not angry per say with my boyfriend but simply stunned. "You know I'm not photogenic…"_

"_That's not true, love. You look absolutely stunning in every picture we take. Besides, I didn't want to ruin the moment by getting up to take it so Alice did it for me." Edward began stroking my cheek ever so softly with the back of his fingers, which relaxed me a little. Leaning into his fingers felt so right… Just having him with me, here, is right. At the time, I had hoped that nothing would ruin this love that we had for one another but now, everything was gone. "I love you Bella…"_

"_I love you too Edward, so much…" And, in that moment, I had completely forgotten that Edward had taken a picture. Just having him next to me, I didn't care whether he had taken a picture of argued with someone. _

_He was here, and he was mine. _

Now, I didn't even have him. I wasn't even sure if this locket really _was_ from Edward, or simply a trick to get me to trust again. Without a word, Jacob reached his hand slowly onto mine and took the locket slowly, making me shoot a glance at him curiously. Why was he taking it from me? Didn't I have a right to keep one thing from my old life? Luckily, Jacob wasn't taking it away from me. Instead, he reached his arms behind me and began placing the necklace around my neck, letting the locket hang loose just above my breasts.

A small smile spread across my face when looking down at the locket. It fitted perfectly… Looking over at Jacob, he was smiling sadly at me before patting my hand. "I'll be right back, alright? You get ready," was the only thing he said before standing up and walking out of the room, closing the door softly behind me. Why did he suddenly leave?

Maybe he just had something to do…

Putting on my clothes slowly, I could hear some mumbling on the other side of the door. What was going on over there? Had James come back yet? I thought Jacob said he'd be gone. Guess freedom doesn't last very long here… But just as I sat back down on the bed, Jacob opened the door again, an old cell phone against his shoulder. When seeing my confused look, he walked over to me and handed me the phone. "It's for you…" he said, letting me take the phone and look down at it. The number seemed familiar but it didn't catch my eye at the moment… But a tug at my heart told me that it was important.

"Hello…?" I asked, sadly pouring my tiredness into my voice. No one spoke on the other end of the phone, making me wonder if this was some prank call that Jacob was pulling on me. Looking up, I saw that he had actually left the room, maybe to give me some privacy. Was this, in fact, a prank call? My eyes narrowed as no sound came once again from the other line and I asked: "Hello?" again, a little bit of impatience mixing with my tiredness.

"_Bella…_" My eyes widened and my body froze in shock. I knew that this number was familiar but why hadn't my mind registered it?!

It was Edward's number.

"Edward…" I whispered, unable to hold in my shock. This had to be some sick joke… My heart began constricting, unable to stand this. To hear his voice after all this time… After what he said to me, this was too much. "I… I wasn't expecting you to get a call from you…"

"_Jacob called us Bella. And we're glad he did. We were worried beyond words about you._" My eyes closed in sadness. This wasn't possible. His voice sounded so relieved and happy… He told me that his only regret was loving me. He hated me… How could he do this to me? Why was he torturing me like this? "_H… How are you doing, Bella?_"

There wasn't any point in lying to anyone. Maybe if he would know how bad a situation I was in, maybe he would feel bad. But he shouldn't feel bad about me. None of them should… "As good as anyone can be in my situation… Eleazar hadn't told me that I would be talking to you… He just told me that the police were trying to locate me but nothing else," I admitted, feeling as though my heart was going to start tearing very soon. It was true that this call was unexpected but it was painful. What was the point of speaking to them? It would only bring me more pain than good. I knew that they didn't want me. The message Eleazar gave me from Edward had to be false… It had to.

"_The police are tracking your location now but we wanted to talk to you so badly Bella. We're worried sick, wondering if something happened to you or not, that we just wanted to hear that you were ok,_" he admitted, making my heart tear even more and my eyes close in horrible sadness. This couldn't happen… It just couldn't… I felt tears begin to prick at my eyes behind my eyelids as he spoke again. "_We're gonna make sure that nothing happens to you Bella. The police is gonna find your location and—_"

"You shouldn't find me…" I couldn't help the heartbreak and sadness from escaping into the phone. This was too much. Placing a hand on my chest, it felt as though my heart was breaking horribly, forming a bigger hole in my chest that probably could never be fixed in the end.

"_I don't understand Bella… Why do you say that?_" he asked, confusion mixing with his angelic voice.

Knowing that this was probably my last few days alive—even though this call was literally killing me inside—it felt good to hear his voice. At least this would be a good reminder of him before I died.

"There really is no point in me coming back… Even if the police find me, nothing will change." _I'd still be a traitor… You would all still hate me… _I thought but never said it.

"_Bella, we don't care about that. We know that it wasn't you who did all of those things. We just want you back… You're our family,_" Edward said, making me bite my lip in anger and sadness. How could he say this when everyone _knew_ that it was a lie?

Placing my hand on my mouth for a few seconds, trying to get myself back together, I grabbed my courage and spoke the honest truth. "I lost the right to have a family when I first received that text message… With Rosalie getting in that accident, Alice being suspended, M—" I caught myself at the last minute, knowing that saying the word 'Mom' wasn't meant for me anymore. They weren't my family anymore… I wanted them to still be but now, that was out of my reach now. "Esme being shot and breaking the heart of the one person who made me happy, I lost every right to have a family… I've lost it all…"

"_Bella, you know that's not—_"

I had to interrupt him before my heart broke once more. But the tears were now flowing freely now. I was basically sobbing into the phone now while speaking. "Even if I were to return, it wouldn't change anything. I'd still see the hurt and the betrayal that I made you all feel. I'm just a traitor Edward… someone who breaks hearts and tears people apart. There's nothing for me to come back to… Not a family, not friends… not even love," I admitted, wiping my tears while speaking. This was absolutely breaking me. I couldn't deny the hurt that was filling my heart now. My heart was basically in crumbles now, unable to be fixed. "I have nothing—"

Just as I had spoken again, a loud _bang_ was heard, as if something had been thrown to the ground. My sentence was cut short when the door slammed open and the face of a murderous man came into view. James. He was back. My blood ran cold as Edward's voice rang across the phone, which I had slowly dropped to my lap. "_Bella?_" Edward asked but my voice wasn't cooperating.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here? Someone's trying to be rescued," James said, starting to walk towards me, his footsteps calm but his look furious and lethal. "That's very naughty Bella… And here we were getting along so well."

My hand seemed numb and the phone dropped to the floor without me closing it. I stood up and took a step back, my body beginning to shake in fear. "J… James… I… I can exp—" But James didn't let me finish. Instead, his hand shot out quickly and grabbed my neck, pushing me harshly against the wall and lifting me up off the floor ever so slightly. The gesture was cutting off my circulation and making it very difficult for air to pass through my lungs. But James didn't seem to mind that.

"You know, I was planning on savouring you until tomorrow—grab a little more cash before you became boring to the audience—but with that little stunt of yours, I think I'll just take you here and now… You might be better than the other girls I've had but not by much. Maybe afterwards, I'll dump your body on the Cullens' front porch so that they can see you one last time before putting you in a box six feet under," James explained in a calm voice, which only made my worry grow even more. If he was this calm when threatening me, imagine when he would be torturing me. "What do you say Bella? Don't you think that you deserve to be punished for doing this?"

My hands fumbled against his one hand around my neck but removing it was useless. He was much stronger than I was and there was no denying that he could choke me to death right here—but considering his latest speech, killing me quickly wasn't in the program.

"P… Please… Just… l… let me… go…" I begged, my voice cracking from time to time from the lack of oxygen. My nails started raking across his skin, hoping to hurt him enough to let me go. But my attempts were useless.

"Not likely Bella. You should know not to disobey me," James said, making me close my eyes in desperation while trying to claw my way out of his grip. For some reason, determination filled me. I realized that this wasn't my time to die. I wouldn't _let _myself die. He wouldn't be my tormentor anymore. This had to end now. "Now, I'm gonna have to—" My leg shot out as fast and hard as I could, hitting him in his groin, making his face scrunch up in pain and scream: "Agh!"

His hand let me go and dropped me to the ground, making me hold my neck for a few seconds and cough to try and get some air enter my lungs. James fell on his knees, one hand on the ground as his other held his private area, trying to make the pain stop. Taking this opportunity, I sprang up, ignoring the soaring pain in my throat and began running towards the door, where Jacob was now slowly standing up, holding one hand to his head. I guess James must have knocked him out for a little while.

"Why, you little bitch…" James muttered angrily.

Suddenly, a _whoosh_ingsound was heard and a sharp pain erupted in my side, making me scream out in horrible pain. I fell to my knees just as Jacob screamed my name, slowly moving a hand towards the pain. When my fingers touched a cool metal, I realized that James had thrown me a knife.

"Come on!" Jacob screamed, coming up towards me but my body wouldn't move. It was completely stiff and in pain. Seeing that, Jacob placed a hand on the top of my back and under my knees before lifting me in his arms and running out of the house towards the forest. "Hang in there Bella… We'll make it… Just hang on…" Jacob kept muttering, all the while my blood still ran on the floor and the pain kept increasing.

What would happen now?

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

10


	28. Escaped

**Alright so this is about the third last chapter (which includes the epilogue) so we'll be at the end of this story soon. READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 27

Escaped

**Jacob's Point of View**

I was still running as we tried our hardest to get away from James' cabin. Sadly, it felt like we weren't running fast enough. With Bella in my arms, it made it a little difficult to run at full capacity but we had to get away as far as possible from his house. In my heart, it felt as though James was catching up. Hopefully, we were far enough to get some distance between James and make it hard for him to catch up.

But there was one complication.

Bella's back hadn't stopped bleeding since we left. She tried to hide the pain that her back was causing her but Bella couldn't hold in the slight whimper from time to time. She really was a brave girl… Every movement made her move and the blood kept falling even more. Sadly, it could give a trail for James to follow. We had to stop here and I had to get her wound tied to stop the bleeding. When doing so, it might slow him down ever so slightly.

Stopping by a stream, I looked around, making sure that we weren't being closely followed. When seeing that the coast was clear, I placed Bella down on the ground, sadly making her cry out in pain when her back touched the floor. I frowned at the sight of her scrunched up face and wished that she hadn't received that wound. It looked bad and wouldn't stop bleeding.

Turning her softly on her good side, I looked at the wound in the right side of her back. It shocked me to see all of the blood surrounding the knife. There had even been blood on the hilt of the blade, making it hard to see what kind of knife James threw. Placing a hand on Bella's shoulder, I could see that there was some sweat forming on her forehead. This was stressing her a lot…

Bella looked up at me and seemed to have trouble even moving her head. The back _was_ connected to the neck and the movement was probably killing her already. "I'm gonna take the knife out of your body alright…? It's gonna hurt but I gotta ask you to stay as quiet as possible alright? I don't know if James is anywhere close but I don't want him finding you," I explained, rubbing her shoulder softly to try and make her a little more comfortable.

Bella nodded slowly, her body tensing with the action. "I… I'll try…" she replied, panting a little from the effort of speaking.

Nodding, I moved my hand slowly around the bloody hilt, seeing her hiss at the pain but we had to remove this and bandage it as best as possible. If we didn't, it would be an easy trail for James to follow. I… I couldn't let him take Bella. With the escape we just committed, he'll be in a blind rage and will want nothing more than to kill her slowly and painfully in the most humiliating way. Bella was too sweet and gentle and loyal to be hurt by this man any longer. She didn't deserve this…

"Alright Bella, at three I'll pull it out," I said, trying to be as gentle as possible and save Bella from further pain. Bella closed her eyes and tried to remain as still as possible as my grip tightened ever so slightly on the hilt. "One… Two…" I placed my hand on her thigh softly, trying to give me some balance so that she didn't fall over on her back, and looked her in the eyes while saying: "Three," and removing the blade out of her skin at the same time.

Bella bit into her lip so hard that blood began flowing from her lip. Tears began to form in her eyes as the blood kept flowing from her back more rapidly this time. Taking off my shirt, I wrapped it around her waist and tried to stop the flow of the blood. Sadly, in a matter of minutes, the shirt was half tainted in blood. At this rate, it would only delay Bella's death… and I couldn't let that happen.

Rinsing my hands in the water, I began cleaning the blade, only to notice that it was my blade. I always kept a knife under my bed in case James got angry and sadly, it looked like James must have picked it up and used it as a weapon. But what was the most shocking thing about the knife was that the blade was all rusted. I might not have much medical knowledge but if this rust got into her system, then the wound could get badly infected.

Looking over at Bella, I placed my blade in my back pocket and watched her actions. There was more sweat that formed on her face from the effort it took to remove the knife and blood seemed to continue to spill from her wound. If that wasn't treated soon, then she would certainly die from blood loss and possibly other symptoms. I needed to take her to a hospital but where was the closest one? I had no clue where we were going and it was getting dark soon.

Walking over to Bella, I placed a soft hand on her shoulder and looked in her half open eyes. "Bella, we have to keep moving. Do you think that you can stay awake until we stop for the night?" She nodded slightly but barely had the strength to do anything else. Her wound must really be eating at her. When we stopped again, I'd have to look over her wound again.

Picking her up, Bella scrunched her face in pain but otherwise remained silent. And as we ran towards the night, she began panting even more, making me wonder how long she could hold out.

After many hours of running, the wind began to pick up and the air began to feel extremely cold. Looking down at Bella, her forehead was beaded with sweat. She must be getting a fever… With this wind, it wasn't helping her condition at all. There had to be somewhere we could stop and get some warmth…

Looking in front of me, my heart began jumping with hope. There was a barn just a few meters in the distance, its lights shining lightly in the darkness.

A smile went to my face as I ran towards the building, stopping in front of its door and pushing them open with my back, entering the warm area. I had only just closed the door when the rain began to fall. _Oh thank you God…_ was my only thought as the rain began to fall harder outside. We had gotten here just in time to be under a warm roof. Looking around, my eyes detected that there was only one horse in the entire barn but it was enough to leave a warm air around the area. Bella leaned heavily in my arms and that brought me out of my reverie of the new place. Looking down at her, her skin looked awfully pale. Sweat continued to pour down her face and she had closed her eyes, panting heavily in my arms. This was bad… The barn looked deserted and didn't seem to have any civilization around it, which meant that there were probably no hospitals nearby.

Placing Bella gently on a pile of hay, she winced at the hay touching her wound but didn't say anything else. There was a horse blanket on the side of one of the stables, which I immediately grabbed and placed on top of Bella's body, trying to keep her warm. "We've got a place to stay for the night Bella. I can try and treat you for now until I check around and see if I can find a phone nearby. You'll be alright…" I soothed, stroking her hair once before looking down at her side.

Her back was bloody, the shirt already completely stained with blood. There was no doubting the fact that Bella lost a lot of blood today. Looking around, I wasn't able to find anything else but a large white cloth that could possibly fit around her waist. Walking over to it, my hand reached, only to touch the fabric and a plastic box hidden under the cloth. Lifting the cloth, a small smile went to my face as my eyes scanned the medical kit. It seemed to hold everything that I needed: gauze, tape… basically the works.

Grabbing it, I walked back over to Bella with the cloth and the first aid kit in my hands, seeing that she hadn't opened my eyes since we entered the barn. Shaking her shoulder slowly, her eyes opened a little but they wouldn't open very wide. "Bella, I found something that can help for now," I said, starting to remove the shirt from around her waist to find the wound more gruesome than a few hours ago. The blood was still flowing but around the wound, it seemed to have become infected. This wasn't good… Around the wound, her skin turned from purple and yellow, meaning that the infection was getting worse every minute.

"You… can't stop the bleeding… can you…?" Bella asked; her voice barely above a whisper.

Looking over at her, Bella's brown eyes looked over at me but held unbearable pain. It showed that not only her wound was hurting her, but the phone call hurt her as well. She believes that they really don't want her anymore but now, with her wound, I'm not sure she'll be able to see them ever again…

I didn't want to lie to Bella but she needed to know the truth. There was no point hiding behind words in situations like this. "It's slowing down Bella. Don't worry about a thing, alright? We're gonna get you fixed up and you'll be able to go back to your family in no time," I replied, trying to sound as serene and confident as possible.

Bella didn't reply afterwards and so I began wrapping the gauze around her wound, tying it as tightly as I could without hurting Bella or stopping her circulation. Looking back over to her, she had closed her eyes again and had fallen into another sleep. But the question that rang through my mind was if she was _alright _to sleep. With an injury eating at her like this, how long could Bella last?

Stroking her hair, I began to worry even more about her. She might not have been with me for long but it was enough to make me care about her as if she were my sister. Maybe there was a way to find someone who could help her with this wound. I had to try and find someone. Her life depended on it. "I'll be right back Bella. I'm gonna try and find someone around to call for help, alright? You just hang in there alright? You stay in there for your family and for my sake, alright? I'll be back… I'll be back…" Placing the blanket around her again, I stood up, watched her for a few seconds to make sure that she was still breathing and walked out of the barn, searching around for someone to help us.

After searching for a little while in the cold wet night, a house was shown about half a mile away from the barn. There were some lights on but the question was: is anyone home? Running towards the house, I arrived on the porch and brought my hand on the door once without hesitation. But sadly, when placing my hand on the door to knock, it opened slowly by itself, the door creaking while opening. This wasn't normal… Who would leave their house open in the middle of the night? Walking slowly inside, the floor creaked under my feet, making my heart thump louder with each creak. Looking around, the house looked deserted. There was a meal prepared on the table, still warm and fresh out of the oven. That raised even more suspicions. Why would a meal be out on the table, prepared and everything, just to get cold on a table and not get eaten?

Standing in the living room, the TV was blaring, the sound from a football game sweeping the room and filling the silence. This definitely wasn't normal… Looking around, the only sound being heard in the room was the television still open. Closing it without looking at it, silence only filled the air. My heart kept leaping as something caught my eye. Walking towards the staircase, a foot caught my eye, making my heart beat even faster. What was happening here?

My eyes shot wide when finally arriving at the foot of the staircase. Lying at the foot, a man and a woman were lying on the ground, eyes staring horribly lifelessly at the ceiling, the woman piled on top of the man. Their blood was still dripping on the ground, meaning that they had been killed recently. But how could this have happened? What happened here?

Just as I was about to bend down and look at the mangled bodies, something cold was pressed against my back, making me freeze in place and straighten up. My hand went around the knife on my belt just as a cruel voice was heard behind me. "You should know never to try and run away from me," _his_ voice was heard before a loud bang was heard and sharp pain erupted in my body.

**Bella's Point of View**

The air around me felt hot… too hot.

My back was in horrible pain and my body felt as if it wasn't able to move. Jacob had said that he had gone to try and find help but, in my heart, it felt as though help would not come willingly to us. My panting hadn't stopped since Jacob brought me inside and I had a feeling that it wouldn't stop soon. This wound wasn't going to slow down, which meant that it would probably kill me soon. I'd never see Edward or Alice or any of them ever again… I suppose that was a good way to die: leaving behind the ones I love behind…

Just as I was picturing my last happy moment with Edward, my ears detected a door being opened and I wanted to respond but the only thing I could do was open my eyes a little. My vision was extremely fuzzy but a tall figure began approaching me. Was it Jacob? I couldn't tell.

Suddenly, the fuzzy figure was just inches away from my face and grabbed my collar, lifting me up and causing my back intense pain. I didn't even have the strength to scream at the pain this person was causing.

As the pain continued to grow, a chilling voice made me more alert—and frightened—than ever.

"I've got you now…"

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

8


	29. An end to this

**Ok so this is the last chapter. Next, will be the epilogue and then this story will be done with. If I get 250 reviews in total for Captured, then I will update the sequel to this story but NOT UNTIL THEN. So get me 250 reviews and I will give the sequel, got it? And please, to those who read this chapter, please leave some sort of comment. I want to know how I can improve on these chapters and make the sequel to Captured great. Now, READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 28

An end to this

**Bella's Point of View**

James grabbed me roughly and dragged me through the rain and the mud until we finally reached a car. To say that my wound was just slightly hurting was an understatement. With every movement he made me do, my back stung to the point of excruciating pain and it felt as though my vision was seeing white spots in the dark. James dragged me to a dark car and placed me in the car roughly, strapping on the seat belt around me.

Why he was putting it around me was a good question to ask. Maybe he thought that his prize would be safer with it around until the minute he decided to kill me. Or maybe he thought that there was enough time to do that.

But obviously, he didn't have enough time because just as the click of the seat belt was heard, sirens began to softly ring in the background. It was a miracle that my ears detected it, what with the condition I'm currently in. James seemed to say something—this time, my ears couldn't detect what it was—before he slammed the door hard and, in seconds, was at the driver's side, entering the car and revving the engine before driving off into the night.

What was he going to do with me now? With my back still bleeding and my body seeming to burn itself up, he didn't have much of a catch now. But seeing as James looked even more murderous than normal at the moment, I'm guessing that his motives wouldn't really change because of my condition. But I couldn't let him show how weak I was. Yes, on the outside, I look like I'm dying—and I won't deny that the feeling is similarly mutual on the inside as well—but I had to stay strong… for the Cullens and for Jacob—wherever he was.

"Where… are you taking me…?" I asked, but sadly earned a punch in the jaw, sending my head into the window, making my head feel even more lightheaded than usual.

"If you even have a smidge of self preservation, you will note dare speak unless spoken to. Otherwise I'll stop this car right now, have my way with you in a slow and horrifying way and then present your dead raped corpse to the Cullens. Do you understand me?!" James barked, forcing the car to go even faster in his angry rampage.

My head felt as if it was going to remove itself from my neck because of the pain in my entire body. He's extremely angry and there's nothing that can be done about that. But… what happened to Jacob? If James was here right now, then Jacob might be hurt.

I was just about to tempt my chance and ask him about Jacob when he decided to speak. "Because of your little escape stunt, my interest in you has dropped drastically. And you've made me get rid of my only good slave. Not very smart, is it? So now, because of your stupidity, I'm going to slowly torture you and then kill you in the less humane way possible. Now, I just need to think of a way to do so that won't leave any tracks…" he said, seeming to think to himself.

Forcing my eyes open a little, I turned my head towards him, only seeing a blurry James but thankfully, he was staring at the road ahead of him. I didn't know how long we had been on the road but, with the speed that he was going; our trip wasn't going to take very long.

But he had said that he had gotten rid of his only good slave… Did he mean Jacob? What has he done with him?

"What… have you done with Jacob…?" I asked, panting and trying to gather up as much strength as possible. If he'd done something to Jacob, then with my last bit of strength, I would make sure that this man wouldn't hurt anyone else.

But, considering I spoke without being told, James punched me across the face without looking one more time. My eyesight blurred again but that didn't stop him from getting angry once more. "I told you to shut up! Yes, I did get rid of my nephew without remorse _and_ I got rid of that meddling couple who owned that barn too. They were in my way, just like you are right now," James said glacially, looking over to me as he finished before looking back at the dark street. How could he have done that to Jacob, his own nephew? This man really didn't have a heart… There's something that has to be done about this, especially for Jacob, considering I'm the reason he's dead. A single tear fell down my face and James barked another order at me. "Remove that tear or I will remove it for you… and not in a pretty way."

My sadness began turning into anger. This man had ruined my life, had bullied and taken Jacob's life for no reason—not including the other lives he has taken—and now he expects to kill me to simply have 'a good time', as Jacob had put it once. This had to end… I didn't want to die at his hands. Yes, his knife wound might kill me before the end of the night but I didn't want to die the way he wanted me to.

I had to get my strength back together and make sure that this plan of his would not succeed… otherwise; this whole sacrificing myself for the Cullens would mean nothing. This sacrifice had to mean something…

Looking ahead of me, we seemed to be on a deserted street. My ears couldn't detect the police sirens anymore so maybe James lost them in the darkness or the speed. But the trees… maybe they could help me in the long run, _if_ I could get enough strength to move my arm a little.

Looking over to James, he seemed to have his eyes focused once again on the road, which soothed me just fine. He didn't need to focus on me when my plan would be falling into action. With his high beams on, I could see that we were coming to a turn soon. If I could time it just right for the trees to hit his side, then maybe it could stun him enough that I could get away and die in my own way, away from this monster. I could die on my own, away from the Cullens so that they could be happier without me ruining their lives…

We were coming up to the turn, so close… Just a few inches more… And when the time came, I used all of my strength to grab the steering wheel, forcing James to start cursing at me in complete shock and anger, and turn it abruptly to the right. My blurry vision was good enough to see the car swerve under the water on the floor and see the car near the trees even more, James' side of the car approaching the trees at an alarming rate.

I knew that this impact would probably kill me or worsen my condition but I didn't care. This needed to happen. Maybe, since the impact would be on James' side, he would be the one to suffer more than me.

Sadly, just as he threw my hand away and punched me hard enough to make me see stars and taste blood in my mouth, he tried to get the car back into position but it was too late. The car wrapped around a tree and my body shot to the left. Before I knew it, my body propelled me to the right and my head hit the window. That's when the darkness took over and I didn't know if this would be my last night in this world.

In the darkness, I began hearing my mother's voice. It kept repeating: "_Bella… Bella, honey, wake up… Please Bella… Wake up…_" But wake up from what? I was probably dead at this point, the impact killing me instantly. Why should it matter if I woke up this time? The first time I nearly died, the Cullens were there to take me in and make me feel again. Now… there was no point. My only regret was hurting them that way, hurting them to the point where my mind kept saying that there was no reason to live anymore. "_Bella… wake up for me… You can do it…_"

Why did she want me to wake up so badly? There. Was. No. Point. Did she not understand that? But just as I was about to give up, there was one voice that stood out and made me rethink this situation. "_Bella… Love… Please wake up…_" Edward… My angel was speaking to me through the darkness. The one thing I wanted to hear before dying was _his _voice. His opinion is the one that mattered most to me and… if he wanted me to wake up, there had to be a reason…

"_Please Bella… wake up for me…_"

In that last moment, when my mind detected my mother and Edward's voices, my eyes opened slowly, feeling as if a truck had slammed into me. My head was hurting so badly that when my eyes opened halfway, there were stars in front of my eyes. Looking around, I could see some smoke building around the car, seeing that we must have hit the engine or something like that in the impact. When looking over to James, his head was sprawled against the window, seeming unconscious. His chest was still rising so it must mean that he's still alive. But the car was badly damaged on the driver's side.

It seemed as though James got the worst part of the crash. His arm was bent in an unnatural position and his head was bleeding. But then again, his seat belt wasn't on and his body was leaning against the car door. I, on the other hand, seemed to have come out with some scratches and maybe a concussion—seeing as my head was absolutely killing me.

Using some of my leftover strength, I undid my seatbelt, wincing with the effort, and tried to open the door as best as could be. Luckily, the car didn't seem to be too damaged on my side and I was able to fall out of the car with slight ease. The fall made me feel even weaker but I had to push myself to my limits and escape this place before anyone found me.

My body felt as if it just wanted to lie there, let myself die and let it be done with my life. But I had to die elsewhere, not here next to him.

Forcing my body to stay on my hands and knees was a lot more painful than I had realised. With the effort, my breath became short and my back felt like it was on fire. Black spots danced on my vision and my body felt lightweight. This wasn't good… At this rate, I'd never make it far away enough to get away from James. Forcing my body to stand on my own two feet, I was about to head off into the forest when I looked back to see James still sprawled on the driver seat.

A part of me felt sorry for this man. Who knows if we were on a priority road so any passerby could see the car? If no one saw it, then James could easily die—and not come after anyone ever again—but… that seemed wrong. Yes, he tortured me and made my life a living Hell but was leaving him like this the right thing to do? Simply letting his head bleed while the police kept searching around for him? Some pity began stirring in me for no apparent reason so, against my better judgement; I reached into the car, aware that my vision kept dimming, and pulled out the cell phone that lay in the glove compartment. The numbers on the phone kept blurring and fading but I was able—after many tries—to dial 911 and hear a police woman's voice ask: "Sequim Police Department, how may I help you?" James had driven all the way to Sequim? That was almost a two and a half hour drive from Seattle! Had I been in and out of it for that long?

"Help…" I said in a small voice, unable to get it out any higher. It felt as though, with each minute passing, my body began shutting down on itself. As my sight worsened by the second, my hand became slowly numb and the phone dropped from my hand, landing in a small _thump_ on the ground. At least it was somewhat believable that I was in trouble. Maybe the police could track the phone to the location and bring him to jail. Walking slowly away from the car, my body leaned against any hard substance it could find—which mostly consisted of trees. Looking back at the car, I mumbled: "I hope you rot in jail…" before walking away from the scene, limping through the darkness that kept surrounding me.

I kept walking through the night, feeling my vision grow weaker and my body giving out even more. My legs were barely able to keep me elevated anymore. My vision kept fading and my head felt as lightweight as ever. That car crash really did a number on me and my wound wasn't helping things. I could feel myself fading quickly. Along with the wind and the rain that kept falling, the woods didn't help me stay stable. The floor was too uneven to walk straight.

I don't know how long that I had been walking but after a while, my body wanted to give way. Just as my body wanted to fall to the ground, the forest opened up to reveal a wet blurry road. My vision kept fading and sadly, as I looked towards the left side of the road, a bright white light began glowing in the distance.

Was I dying…? Was this the light at the end of the tunnel?

The white light began growing, making its way towards me and somehow, it comforted me. And what made me feel even better was seeing Edward's beautiful smiling face in the light, looking only at me. At least, as I was dying, this would be the last thing that my mind would see.

As the light nearly fully engulfed me, I fell to my knees and let my body fall to the ground, the light engulfing me as my eyes closed, maybe for good.

**Edward's Point of View**

I'd been pacing for hours, ever since the police left abruptly to try and follow James' lead. We hadn't heard from Janet and sadly, it was killing me to feel this way, helpless as the police tried to get Bella away from that tormentor. My parents were both sitting on the couch, holding each other's hand and tried to keep each other calm, not succumbing to the pressure like I was. Alice was sitting at the kitchen table, laying her head against Jasper's chest as his arms stayed around her. Rosalie, however, was fumbling with her hands, Emmett rubbing her arm softly to try and keep her—and probably himself—calm at the same time.

I was the only one without anyone to hold me, to keep me calm while we waited. I needed Bella so badly… She needed to be back here with me, my arms around her and kissing her like we used to.

But just as my mind began reminiscing in the past, the phone rang and I sprang into action, grabbing it and putting it on speaker. "Hello?" I asked; my voice a little panicky at the moment. Honestly, no one could blame me.

"_It's Janet,_" her voice rang in the phone but something seemed… off? Did something good or bad happen? Did they find my Bella?

"What happened?" I asked, placing a hand on each side of the phone, glancing down at the black phone as the others gathered around me, looking at the phone as well in worry.

"_We got him_." A sigh of relief escaped my lips as a large smile began to make its way to my face. They got him and so my Bella would come home! "_But…_"Suddenly, worry began to fill me and my body stiffened. What was wrong? Did something happen…? "_We didn't find Bella…_"

**What did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

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	30. Epilogue

**Alright so here is the END of this story. Yes, I know, the end has come. So now here's the question: Can you all reach 250 reviews to get the sequel up on my profile page? I sure do hope so because you won't be getting the sequel, which will be entitled _Disappeared_, until I get 250 reviews. To those who read this story, you can easily leave a review. I love to know what you all think and I just hope that it's to your liking. But now, without further ado, please READ AND REVIEW this epilogue please.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Epilogue

**Edward's Point of View**

It had been nearly four days that we had heard the news about the police catching James and Bella's disappearance. My mind kept recalling the heart wrenching phone call with the police that night, saying that my Bella was missing.

"_What do you mean she wasn't there?! James has her and she has to be with him!" I yelled at the phone, recognizing my mother's hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down. My body began shaking at the horrible news. Where had he placed her?! Where was my angel?!_

"I'm sorry Edward but when we arrived, we found James in a totalled car. He was unconscious and easy to bring into custody but we never found Bella. The only thing we found was her blood on the passenger seat and… there was a lot of it,_" Janet informed us, her voice melancholic as she tried her best to explain to us the situation. But my body never calmed down. That bastard took my angel and, the minute we nab the guy, she goes missing?! What has he done to her?! "_I'm sorry. We'll try and look into the possibility that she could be out there somewhere but… with the amount of blood found on the seat and the wreckage of the car, there's a possibility that we probably won't find her alive._"_

"_Thank you Janet. Was there anything else that you found while looking for our daughter?" My father asked, placing a hand on my arm to try and stop me from barking out any commands to find Bella. Why weren't they reacting to this?! Bella was _gone_! James had been taken in but that didn't matter to them apparently. He's probably hiding Bella somewhere or took her elsewhere. The police had to get information out of him right away! "If there's anything that can help us find her, then we'll take it."_

"We did find a boy with an injured shoulder and Bella's blood on his hands. But he was also found at a murder scene with the gun used to kill two innocent people. We don't know yet if he did, in fact, kill those people and hurt your daughter but we will question him soon. All he keeps saying is that we need to find Bella and that James did this. We have a hunch that he's right but we can't rule anything out,_" Janet explained, making me feel as helpless as ever. Was this boy the one who helped Bella, the one named Jacob? Why would he kill someone innocent? He didn't seem the type. My heart and head kept telling me that it _was _James who framed him but I had no proof. _

_All the proof I had was this: Jacob had been taken away, saying that Bella was still in danger; James had been captured and was being taken to jail; and my Bella was nowhere to be found, only her blood being left behind for us to worry. _

_My Bella… where are you? _

Even after four days, I tried to convince the police to keep searching. They looked around the area but weren't able to find a single piece of evidence that could lead us anywhere. Apparently, there was her blood and scent in the forest but otherwise, her trail ended on the intersection going towards Seattle. The police even tried to search in various towns but with no luck. It seemed as though Bella simply… disappeared off the face of the Earth.

But if she was gone, I would know it.

There was a connection between Bella and me. And that connection told me that it was still alive. If it wasn't, my heart would feel heavy and lifeless to know that she was gone forever. Bella was my love and if she had died all those days ago, then I would feel it. My heart would feel empty without her—although I won't deny that it does feel lonely at the moment, knowing that she is out there alone.

My parents worried about my health, wondering if I would ever get over this. But they were searching just as hard as the police were. They weren't giving up on Bella and neither was I. Nearly every day, we would find either Alice or Rosalie or my mother crying somewhere in the house, unable to keep it together. Dad and I were the only ones who were staying strong. But sadly, there were times when I wanted to simply let all of my sadness and anger towards James out of me. But I couldn't. I needed to be strong for my family if we were going to get through this difficult time.

One day after school, Alice, Rosalie and I were supposed to go study for the upcoming exams but I skipped the study session, going up to my room like every other day and began doing some research for Bella's location. I tried doing some Google searches on Isabella Swan but sadly, only her school page came up, showing me a slightly smiling girl with beautiful brown hair and gentle eyes. My heart tore at the sight of that picture and after a few minutes, I wasn't able to look at it anymore. Without another glance at her school page, I searched the web once more. Again, there wasn't much information today.

Slamming my fist down on my desk, my eyes darted to the clock on the desk. It was nearly seven o'clock at night. I'd been searching for nearly four hours straight but it didn't matter to me. Bella was my first priority right now and will always be. Rubbing my tired eyes, I placed my hand on the desk and my fingers touched a glass surface. Opening my eyes, they gazed at the picture of Bella and me smiling in the garden and holding one another in happiness. That was the day that Alice took the picture for me. It was one of our happy days and now… we'd never have that again unless we found her.

I had done enough Internet search for the day.

Making my decision—as I did every single night since she went missing—I stood from my chair and went downstairs, only to see Mom prepare the table for supper. She looked up from the plates, still a little weary from her wound, and frowned slightly. Mom didn't like it when I went out at night alone, not since Bella was taken away. She always tried to keep us in the house but it was no use. We couldn't find the answers we were looking for in this house… at least not anymore.

"Where are you going Edward…?" she asked just as I grabbed my coat and began putting it on. Mom placed the plates on the table, not bothering at the moment to continue setting the table. She looked me in the eyes and tried to read my expression but with no result. Ever since we heard about Bella's disappearance, my face has been a mask, hidden from everyone. No one could see what my feelings were. I didn't _want _them to know what my feelings were. These days, it felt like an obligation to feel anything without my Bella by my side that I didn't want to feel around my family anymore, even around anyone. "Please don't go out alone Edward… Bring someone with you or just stay here for the night and go out tomorrow morning…"

"No, I need to go and try to find some answers as quickly as possible," was my only answer, giving her the same response as usual. But this time, instead of simply letting me go, Mom walked towards me and grabbed my hand, stopping me from exiting the house. Without looking at her, my eyes darted down and spoke. "What are you doing Mom?"

"You've been going out every single day this week since the police talked to you and it isn't healthy Edward to push yourself like this… I know you miss her… We all do… But stressing like this and working yourself to bits won't bring her back… We're doing our best Edward but you need to—"

"I need to what?!" I demanded, spinning around and yanking my hand out of her grasp, glaring at my mother for the first time in many months. The last time we were in such a predicament was when Bella had 'died' in the hospital from Charlie's abuse. "I need to sit around here and wait for the police to find nothing?! I need to do nothing and just hope that she comes back?! That's not something I can do that! That isn't what I should do! I should be out there, trying to help her as much as possible! I should be out there looking over every nook and cranny to try and find_ something_ to bring her back! Bella would do the same if it was me in her position! I can't leave her out there alone!" My voice kept rising as the conversation grew slowly. Sadly, while screaming at my mother, my anger and sadness seeping out with every word spoken and so that meant that my walls were slowly breaking.

Mom just stood there, letting all of the anger that I've been feeling for days lash out at her. It was as if she expected this to happen. Mom grabbed my hand softly, running her thumb over the back of it, and kept her expression calm as she simply looked in my eyes, doing nothing more. "Edward… You don't have to do everything by yourself…"

"Well, no one else is doing a damn thing around here! I can't sit around and study like nothing happened! My _girlfriend_ is missing! Your _daughter_ is missing! A _sister _is missing! Doesn't that matter to _anyone_?! I can't sit around and go back to being… to being normal! It's just… I can't do it! I can't do it without her!" And that's when my walls began crumbling. The rest of the family began walking down the stairs, looking at me sadly but confused. Looking away from them, I yanked my hand out of my mother's hand again, feeling absolutely torn at the moment. "I can't do this… I need to go… I need to try and find something to get Bella back…"

"Edward, you're working yourself dry. Just get a good night's rest alright?" Alice asked, walking over towards us, her eyes expressing sympathy and sadness for me. She was trying to help as much as possible in the search on her own, which I was grateful for her but my heart felt that we needed to do more. Bella needed us. She was out there alone and we were just here, my family trying to stop me from going out tonight to explore for my love.

But there was one thing that Alice and my family didn't understand. "Don't you get it Alice?! I _can't_ sleep! I haven't slept in a week! My body won't let me go to sleep! It feels like it needs to be out there, looking for my girlfriend. I can't think and because Bella is missing, I'm not gonna stop until I find her, alright?!" I yelled, looking over to all of them and suddenly, just as the others began looking melancholic and sympathetic, the skin on my cheeks finally felt the tears falling down my face. My walls were breaking from all of this stress and all of the sadness pent up in my body needed to come out. Sliding down to the floor with my back pressed against the door, my hand went to my hair and gripped it tightly. "I just want her back so badly… I can't take this anymore…"

I could feel Mom kneeling down beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders, stroking one of them softly as she tried to comfort me. My heart needed Bella back so badly… It was so empty without her. Letting the tears fall, my family surrounded me, trying to calm me as best as possible. They didn't say anything, no '_we'll find her Edward_' or '_it's going to be alright_' because they knew that there was a possibility that we wouldn't find her.

But we had to find her. In this family, we didn't leave any members behind. Bella would come back to us and we'd be a family again. As my family stayed around me that night, trying to comfort me, there was only one thought that ran through my mind.

_I'll find you Bella, even if it takes an eternity. I'll find you and bring you back home where you belong. _

_I promise._

And that was a promise that I intended to keep with my last breath.

**Bella's Point of View**

Opening my eyes, light nearly blinded me. It looked like the light that had engulfed me moments ago. But this death seemed different, almost surreal and lonely. When I died the first time, my mother was there to welcome me into the afterlife. But they had given me another chance and my mother hadn't appeared to me since. When dying moments ago, I had heard my mother's voice but hadn't seen her welcome me. Was there no welcome party for traitors?

But this light… this light was different.

As my eyes adjusted to the luminescence around me, the light faded to reveal a white lamp on the ceiling. Around me, there were medical equipment around me and an IV drip connected to my arm, which meant that a needle had gone into my arm… Just the thought of that made my skin crawl. My eyes darted down and I saw myself in a hospital bed, a gown on my body and some gauze around my arms.

My eyes scanned the room one more time and worry began to settle in me. I wasn't dead. But there was one problem…

Where was I? What was going on?

**Alright so what did you think of this epilogue? I had to reread it twice to make sure that it was good and a nice epilogue to finish this story and to bring in the next sequel. But honestly, what did you all think? Was the story altogether good? Did it need massive or little work? Please let me know in some REVIEWS. I want to make the sequel (and the last story in this series) the best it can be. So please, leave me some sort of review and let me know what you think. It would be really appreciated. **

**Mortal-paralight20**

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